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THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 





THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OP CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 




THOUGHTS THAT 
BUILD 


For Daily Reading and Meditation 


JTSTORER 


jUetu J9otfe 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1924 


All rights reserved 



Copyright, 1924, 

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 


Set up and printed. 
Published May, 1924. 



Printed in the United States of America by 

THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY; NEW YORK 



79 


A/YO | 



PREFACE 


ci 

r 



This book contains thoughts from so many different 
and varied sources, that it seems advisable to warn the 
reader in advance not to turn away from a truth or feel 
averse to it on account of its author whose teachings in 
general may be not acceptable to him. Let him remember 
the words of the Apostle, “Prove all things, hold fast that 
which is good,” and let him accept the truth from what-" 
ever source it may come. Only God is infallible! 

It may also be well at the same time to impress on the 
mind of the reader the fact that this book is intended to 
lead him into the whole of spiritual truth. Every impor¬ 
tant religious or spiritual truth has, as far as possible, 
been given a place in it. It contains the best from the 
Bible, from Bahaism, New Thought, Protestant and Cath¬ 
olic writers, etc. It is, in fact, a condensation of the 
Bibles and religious and spiritual books of the world, 
furnishing all the food and nourishment any soul may 
need. 

We wish to express our heartiest thanks for their kind 
permission to use the more or less extended and frequent 
quotations from their publications to— 

Horatio W. Dresser, author of “The Power of Silence,” 
“Living by the Spirit,” “The Perfect Whole,” “A Message 
to the Sick,” “A Physician to the Soul,” etc. 

The Trustees under the will of Mary Baker Eddy, 
publishers of “Science and Health with Key to the 
Scriptures,” “Miscellaneous Writings,” “Unity of Good,” 
“Christian Healing,” “The People’s Idea of God,” “Rudi- 


v 


vi Preface 

mental Divine Science,” etc., by Mary Baker Eddy, the 
discoverer and founder of Christian Science. 

Cora Linn Daniels, author of “As It Is to Be,” etc. 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, publishers of 
“Every Man a King,” etc., by Orison Swelt Marden; “As 
a Man Thinketh,” etc., by James Allen, and “Mental 
Medicine,” etc., by Oliver Huckel. 

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London, publishers 
of “The Power of Silence,” “Living by the Spirit,” 
“Voices of Freedom,” “The Perfect Whole,” etc., by 
Horatio W. Dresser; “Thy Rod and Thy Staff,” etc., by 
A. Christopher Benson, and “The Philosophy of Self- 
Help,” “Resources,” by Stanton Davis Kirkham. 

Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Company, Boston, publishers 
of “All’s Right With the World,” “Discovery of a Lost 
Trail,” by Charles Benjamin Newcomb, and “Ideal 
Suggestion Through Mental Photography,” “The New 
Thought Simplified,” etc., by Henry Wood. 

Funk and Wagnalls Company, New York, publishers 
of “Dominion and Power,” “Living Waters,” “The Will 
to Be Well,” by Charles Brodie Patterson, and “Inspira¬ 
tion and Ideals,” etc., by Grenville Kleiser. 

Little, Brown and Company, Boston, publishers of “The 
World Beautiful,” “The Life Radiant,” “The Outlook 
Beautiful,” “The Spiritual Significance,” etc., by Lilian 
Whiting. 

Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, publishers of 
“The Thinning of the Veil,” by Mrs. M. B. Wallace. 

Elizabeth Towne, Holyoke, Mass., author and pub¬ 
lisher of “Lessons in Living,” “Practical Methods of 
Self-Development,” etc. 

Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, publishers of 
“Happiness,” etc., by Hugh Black. 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 









THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


1 


January 1st. 

1. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, 

bless His holy name. 

2. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul: and forget not all His 

benefits: 

3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all 

thy diseases; 

4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who 

crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender 
mercies; 

5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that 

thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

6. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, 

and plenteous in mercy, 

7. He will not always chide: neither will He keep His 

anger forever. 

8. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded 

us according to our iniquities. 

9. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great 

is His mercy toward them that fear Him. 

10. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He 

removed our transgressions from us. 

11. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 

pitieth them that fear Him. 

12. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we 

are dust. 

13. As for man, his days are like grass: as the flower of 

the field so he flourisheth. 

14. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the 

place thereof shall know it no more. 

15. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to 

everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His 
righteousness unto children’s children. 


1-15 Psalm 103. 




2 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 2nd. 

The night cometh, when no man can work. John 9:4. 

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, 
and keepeth his garments. Rev. 16:15. 

Nothing is completely worthy of our heart’s devotion 
save reality, for all else is destined to perish. 

Therefore the heart is never at rest and never finds real 
joy and happiness until it attaches itself to the eternal. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Life “is short, but it is significant”. 

2. The time is short, but nevertheless exceedingly valu¬ 

able. 

, 3. Would that man could once know the infinite value of 
what he so values—time! 

4. To him, time, to live a little longer in, to pursue his 

pleasures in, to snatch from the Unknown another 
hour of foolish existence, is the one desire. 

5. What is its true value to him? 

6. To cultivate, to build up every longing into a conscious 

willing of righteousness, to add an hourly desire to 
rise, to expand, to broaden in every fibre of his mind, 
and most of all, to imitate the unlimited love and 
generosity of his Maker. 

7. Those who gain the most good soonest attain true 

spiritual powers. 

1 Cora Linn Daniels. 3-7 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


3 


January 3d. 

1. Appreciate the value of the time, for you shall never 

see it again, nor shall you find a like opportunity. 

2. One of man’s illusions is that the present hour is not 

the critical, decisive hour; but write it on your 
heart that every day is the best day in the year. 

3. And no fact of life is more important than this pres¬ 

ent instant. 

4. We own no past, no future, we possess only now. 

5. Therefore take care of the now, make the best of 

the present. 

6. Look upon each new day as a new beginning of life, 

a day that means opportunity. 

7. If there is any kindness or any good thing you can 

do your fellow-beings, do it now; for you shall not 
pass this way again. 

8. Live, aspire, realize the best ideal of the moment; 

and this earnest effort shall lead the way to greater 
achievement. 

9. Begin where you are, work where you are. 

10. Simply be true to the best you know. 

11. Believe in God. Condemn not. Love. Be faithful. 

Trust. 

12. Why will you defer your good purpose from day to 

day? 

13. Arise and begin in this very instant, and say, Now is 

the time to be doing. Now is the time to be striv¬ 
ing. Now is the fit time to amend myself. 

1 Baha’o’llah. 2 R. W. Emerson. 3 H. W. Dresser. 4 Mary Baker 
G. Eddy. 7 William Penn. 8-11 H. W. Dresser. 12-13 Thomas 
a Kempis. 




4 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 4th. 

Seek refuge in God with all thy soul. Then shalt thou 
obtain, by His grace, supreme repose. Bag. Gita. 

There is no God beside Him; a just God and a Saviour; 
there is none beside Him. 

Look unto Him, and be ye saved, all the ends of the 
earth; for He is God and there is none else. 

He hath sworn by Himself, the word is gone out of 
His mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that 
unto Him every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear: 

Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness 
and strength: Even to Him shall men come. Isa. 45:21-23. 

1. Why sayest thou, 0 Jacob, and speakest, 0 Israel, My 

way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed 
over from my God? 

2. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the 

everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends 
of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? 

3. There is no searching of His understanding. 

4. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no 

might He increaseth strength. 

5. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young 

men shall utterly fall: 

6. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 

strength; 

7. They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall 

run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not 
faint. 


1-7 Isaiah . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


5 


January 5th. 

Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, 
slow to anger, and of great kindness. Neh. 9:17. 

All ye who seem to have filled up the measure of 
iniquity never despair of our heavenly Father’s goodness. 
For there is but one sin which makes us unworthy of that 
mercy, and that is if we harden ourselves against it, and 
refuse to hope for it. Fenelon. 

Let us, therefore, gather strength again in the light of 
His mercies: For, however great our transgressions, He is 
at hand to repair all, not only entirely, but also abun¬ 
dantly and in most plentiful measure. 

Thomas a Kempis. 

1. Verily, His ways are many and rich. 

2. He permits His children to wander through the forest 

of ignorance, hiding where they may, devising what¬ 
ever scheme fancy may dictate; 

3. But no pathway is so far astray that the weary soul 

shall emerge comfortless, and no man’s steps are so 
devious and flighty as to outwit the Father. 

4. For He is Love and all things work together for good, 

“and there is no human experience that the Spirit of 
God within us cannot turn to beautiful results for us 
and the world”. 

5. Everything that Supreme Love can devise and accom¬ 

plish for its creatures is being fulfilled in every life 
at every instant of its existence; 

6. And “nothing can limit the good that comes to us 

except our own lack of recognition”. 

1-3 Dresser. 4 H. Wood. 5-6 C. B. Newcomb. 




6 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 6th. 

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. 

Hos. 6:3. 

Do not antagonize or denounce any religion. 

Baha’o’llah. 

Religious prejudice, national prejudice, patriotic preju¬ 
dice—all these forms of prejudice are, the destroyers of 
the foundation of mankind and contrary to the good 
pleasure of God. Abdul Baha. 

^1. Creatures were created through love. Let them live in 
friendship and unity; for God has forbidden dispute 
and strife, with an absolute prohibition. 

2. Let them unite in the practice of what is good, cherish¬ 

ing a gentle and sympathising heart, and carefully 
cultivating good faith and righteousness. 

3. Verily, “outside of genuine goodness all creeds are 

chaff”. 

4. It is not, it cannot be a matter of organisation, election, 

foreordination, . . ., which ‘elects’ and ‘chooses’ 
and ‘calls’ men and women to a higher sphere; 

5. It is loving and worshipping the Father, loving and 

being kind to all fellow creatures, dumb animals, and 
the wicked, and the unfortunate alike; 

6. It is the right exercise of every power; the loyalty to 

honest purposes and high aims; the self-sacrifice for 
others, the ordering of life with a view to a nobler 
and better state of existence hereafter which leads 
the soul on and up into a state of beatitude and bliss. 

1 Baha’o’llah. 2 Buddha. 3-6 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


7 


January 7th. 

Tell me not in mournful numbers 
“Life is but an empty dream!” 

For the soul is dead that slumbers, 

And things are not what they seem. 

Life is real! Life is earnest! 

And the grave is not its goal; 

“Dust thou art, to dust returnest,” 

Was not spoken of the soul. 

Not enjoyment and not sorrow 
Is our destined end or way; 

But to act that each tomorrow 
Finds us farther than today. 

Art is long and time is fleeting, 

And our hearts, though stout and brave, 
Still, like muffled drums, are beating 
Funeral marches to the grave. 

In the world’s broad field of battle, 

In the bivouac of fife, 

Be not like dumb, driven cattle, 

Be a hero in the strife! 

Trust no future, howe’er pleasant! 

Let the dead past bury its dead! 

Act—act in the living present! 

Heart within, and God o’erhead! 

Let us [all] be up and doing, 

With a heart for any fate; 

Still achieving, still pursuing, 

Learn to labor and to wait. 


H. W. Longfellow. 




8 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 8th. 

Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go in to 
them, and I will praise the Lord. Ps. 118:19. 

1. Live the life. 

2. Be no cause of grief to any one. 

3. Love each other very much. 

f 4. Should opposition or injury happen to you, you must 
bear it, and be as kind as ever you can be, and 
through all you must love the people. 

Z 5. Should calamities exist in the greatest degree, you 
must rejoice, for these things are the gifts and 
favors of God. 

6. Be silent concerning the faults of others, pray for 

them, and help them—through kindness—to correct 
their faults. 

7. Look always at the good and not at the bad. 

]/8. Never allow yourselves to speak one unkind word 
about another, even though that other be your 
enemy. 

9. Rebuke those that speak to you of the faults of others. 

10. All your deeds must be done in kindness. 

11. Cut your hearts from yourselves and from the world. 

12. Be humble. Be servants of each other, and know 

that we are less than any one else. 

13. Be as one soul in many bodies; for the more we love 

each other, the nearer we will be to God. 

14. Act with cautiousness and wisdom. 

15. Be truthful. Be hospitable. Be reverent. 

16. Be a cause of healing for every sick one; a comforter 

for every sorrowful one; a pleasant water for every 
thirsty one; a heavenly table for every hungry one; 
a guide for every seeker. 


1-16 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


9 


January 9 th. 

Let the righteous be glad. Let him rejoice before God. 
Let him exceedingly rejoice. Let him sing unto the Lord, 
let him sing praise to His name. Ps. 68:3. 

0 servant of God! Rejoice through the glad-tidings of 
God, be happy by the wafting of the* fragrances of God, 
and cling to the Kingdom of God in such wise that it 
makes you separate yourself from the world, and kindle 
in your heart the fire of the love of God to such an extent 
that any one who approaches you will feel its warmth. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. If once you love God with all your soul, you will 

always he cheerful and light-hearted. 

2. For one is happy in loving Him. 

3. No one can be happy without Him, though he may 

not know why he is miserable. 

4. And there is no other real happiness, whatever excite¬ 

ment may be found in sensual pleasures, apart from 
Him. 

5. Life, in its true sense, is the life of the spirit, and that 

life is the love of God, Divine inspiration, spiritual 
joys and glad-tidings of God. 

6. Spiritual enjoyments bring always joy; 

7. The love of God brings endless happiness. 

8. These are joys in themselves, and not only allevia¬ 

tions. 

9. Seek, 0 servant of God, these joys, seek this life, until 

day and night you remain in limitless happiness. 

10. For life is created for happiness, not for sorrow; for 

pleasure, not for grief. 

11. Happiness is life; sorrow is death. 

12. Spiritual happiness is life eternal. 

1-2 Fenelon. 3 Abdul Baha. 4 Fenelon. 5—12 Abdul Baha. 




10 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 10th. 

Bear ye one another’s burdens. Gal. 6:2. 

The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle 
* unto all men. II Tim. 2:24. 

If you meet with kindness him who injures you, you 
may overcome his stubborn spirit. The love of God will 
then come to him, and he will become a changed man. 

Abdul Baha. 


// 


In the world of existence there is nothing so bad as 
injuring a heart, for the heart of a man is the place of 
the descent of the Merciful; and man must not at all 
disquiet or harm the place of the Merciful. Abdul Baha. 


If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His 
love is perfected in us. I John 4:12. 


1. We may become as God so far as we enter into His 

divine nature, which is love. 

2. We may be God as we love, and we remove ourselves 

from God as we don’t love. 

3. When you feel as if you were unable to sympathise 

with any person, by so much as you are unable to 
sympathise even with his sins, you are out of God. 

4. He is all in all, and all His all is love. 

5. They only live who love. 

6. The soul that does not love is without God in outer 

darkness. 

7. The only way to save the world is to drench it with 

love, to flood it with love; yea, love even for the 
worst. 


1-7 W. T. Stead. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


11 


January 11th. 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is 
no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Jas. 1:17. 

How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! There¬ 
fore the children of men put their trust under the shadow 
of Thy wings. 

They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of 
Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river 
of Thy pleasures. 

For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall 
we see light. Ps. 36:7-9. 

1. God is Love, and is ever ready to bestow His blessings 

on all who will receive them. 

2. So far from ever overlooking us, He is always watching 

to find an open heart into which He may freely pour 
the torrents of His bounty and grace. 

3. And His bounty is pure love, great prosperity and uni¬ 

versal peace among different people in all regions, 
and is laying the foundation of great happiness and 
felicity for all the creatures. 

4. Great, indeed, are the tender mercies of God. 

5. No mortal can guess the extent of them. 

6. For He is Love; “He is surrounding man with every 

good”; 

7. And all along the way caring for him; sustaining his 

soul in its progress and providing for him in ways 
which he has scarcely expected. 

1 W. Brady. 2 Fenelon. 3 Abdul Baha. 4 Ps . 5 Sadi. 7 
H W. Dresser. 




12 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 12 th. » 

Verily, the love of God is in us: Let us seek, and we 
will find Him near. His lamps we are, and His light is 
in us; therefore let us be illumined by it, and let us seek 
no one but Him ; for He has created us rich, and upon us 
has He showered abundant grace. He has placed in us 
the essence of His light; therefore let us depend upon it, 
and upon nothing else; for His action is perfect and His 
command has effect. Let us purify ourselves from all 
else save Him, (so that we may sacrifice our souls in His 
love./ Baha’o’llah. 

We are constrained to love Him who first loved us; 
who loves us with a tender love, as a Father who pitieth 
His children, knowing their frailty. 

Verily, He sought us in our paths, which are sin; He 
followed us as a shepherd wearies himself in seeking his 
lost sheep. He was not content in finding us; having 
found us, He carries us and our weariness. 

So much love, indeed, calls out the love to Him who is 
Love; and the souls who have found this love enjoy peace 
of conscience and are content and happy. Fenelon. 

1. Those who consciously and earnestly love God, place 

their spirits in instant harmony with His. 

2. His will then becomes their will, and they offer in 

themselves no opposition to the divine plan, which is 
/ included in the human plan, even as the human is 
included in the divine. 

3. And in offering no opposition, but gladly and lovingly 

yielding to God’s sweet way, the whole universe, 
material and spiritual, bends to serve and obey the 
mortal, as if it were the Immortal will, since in har¬ 
mony they are one. 


1-3 Cora Linn Daniels. 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


13 


January 13th. 

Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will 
do great things. Joel 2:21. 

If you would begin here and now, to-day, this present 
hour, to enjoy the benefits of the Father’s care, go apart 
from your fellow men for a time, seek the solitude of the 
Spirit; lay aside all plans, open your mind and heart in 
receptive worship; consecrate all you possess, all that you 
are, to the Father; then be true to the highest thought 
that comes to you; trust though you see not whither you 
are going, though your faith be severely tested. 

For no man ever sought help in that spirit who came 
away unfilled. H. W. Dresser. 

1. All our fears and troubles and doubts come from want 

of faith; 

2. For “fear and lack of faith go hand in hand . 

3. And to be distressed by doubt is to be wanting in 

faith. 

4. While “persistent worrying is persistent unbelief”. 

5. Verily, “when the heart is full of [faith and] trust, 

there is no place left for fear”. 

6. We can drive out fear by a new mental and spiritual 

outlook—a supreme confidence [and faith] in God. 

7. For “opposed to fear is [faith,] which gives assurance, 

confidence and trusting expectancy”; 

8. It “is the one restoring and sustaining mental state.” 

9. Therefore, no matter what your need is, put it into 

the hands of faith. 

10. Do not ask how, or why, or when; just do your level 
best and have faith. 

1 Fenelon. 2 R. W. Trine. 3 J. Lubbock. 4-6 0. Huckel. 7-8 
D. S. Sager. 9-10 0. S. Marden. 




14 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 14th. 

/ Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it 
abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 

John 12:2. 

The discipline of the flesh is designed to turn one, like 
a weary traveler, to the home of Love. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

The afflictions which come to humanity sometimes tend 
to center the consciousness upon the limitations. This is 
a veritable prison. Release comes by making of the will 
a door through which the confirmations of the Spirit 
come. The confirmations of the Spirit are all those powers 
and gifts with which some are born and which men some¬ 
times call genius; but for which others have to strive with 
infinite pain. They come to that man or woman who 
accepts life with radiant acquiescence. Abdul Baha. 

1. From this present trouble of ours there is a way of 

escape. Self alone stands in the way. 

2. Yet even this is no ground for complaint. 

3. If we are rightly adjusted to the creative rhythm or 

process, we shall not be troubled by it longer than 
is necessary to teach us its lesson. 

4. Then let us be content. Let us drop fear and impa¬ 

tience in quiet trust and restfulness. 

5. Peace, be still! There is nothing to fear. 

6. Nothing can come to us without receptivity or willing¬ 

ness on our part. 

7. We, therefore, hold the key to our minds. 

8. We can accomplish everything through faith, with 

sufficient time. 

1-8 H. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 15 


January 15th. 

Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to 
come. Hebr. 13:14. 

All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the 
flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: 
because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: Surely 
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower 
fadeth: But the Word of our God shall stand for ever. 

Isa. 40:6-8. 

1. Let us be even as pilgrims. 

2. He that selleth, let him be as he that flieth away; 

and he that buyeth, as one that will lose; 

3. He that occupieth merchandise, as he that hath no 

profit by it: and he that buildeth, as he that shall 
not dwell therein. 

4. He that soweth, as if he should not reap. 

5. Let the heart be detached from this world; 

6. For it is a prison for heavenly souls, and this earthly 

world is but a cage, and not a nest, unto the Divine 
birds. 

7. And when man becometh free from attachment unto 

this world, he will crave for the world of the King¬ 
dom, seek for eternal life, and long for his final 
deliverance. 

8. Oh! the bliss of that day when he shall depart from 

his desolate mansion, shall seek rest for his soul, 
and shall follow the traces of his Beloved. 

9. Dancing with love of His beauty, like a moth in a 

sunbeam, till he reacheth the spring and fountain 
of delight, whence yon sun deriveth all his luster. 


1-4 Esdras. 5-7 Abdul Baha. 8-9 Hafi. 




16 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 16th. 

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 

Matt. 12:34. 

The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on 
the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the 
heart. I Sam. 16:7. 

Rule the without from within. You can do far more 
than you know, simply by the power of thought, which 
is the greatest force in the universe. M. B. Wallace. 

It is only by thinking fine thoughts and doing good 
deeds and saying kind words that you can make yourself 
better. H. Potter. 

Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith 
you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of 
every sort. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. According to our thoughts will be our life. 

2. For what we mentally dwell upon we grow like; 

3. And what we think and dwell upon habitually will be 

effective in the long run. 

4. We are all sculptors, working out our own ideals, 

and leaving the impress of mind on the body as well 
as on history and marble, chiselling to higher excel¬ 
lence, or leaving to rot and ruin the mind’s ideals. 

5. Recognizing this as we ought, we shall turn often from 

marble to model, from matter to Mind, to beautify 
and exalt our lives. 

2 H. Wood. 3 H. W. Dresser. 4-5 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


17 


January 17 th. 

Their strength is to sit still. Isa. 30:7. 

Let us endeavor at all times to trust in God; 

Let us be severed and detached from the world of dust 
and united with the Lord of Lords; 

Let us forget all else save Him, and be comforted by 
His Spirit. Abdul Baha. 

Faith and trust in God, combined with love, make a 
great, blessed, yea, marvellous change in the character, 
condition, enjoyment and prospects of all who believe 
in Him. Anon. 

1. Do we try to trust God fully, understandingly, with a 

deep conviction, that it is His life, His power, that is 
pressing upon us through our inmost life? 

2. Do we wait for guidance when we are perplexed? ^ 

3. Do we let life come as it may from the Divine Source, 

without rebellion, without doubt, without fear? 

4. Doubt and fear, complaint, fret and depression are evil 

states of the mind. 

5. Let us seek to help ourselves against them by occupy¬ 

ing the mind with better things. 

6. And the best and most helpful of all better things is 

a habit of confidence and repose under the loving 
shelter of God. 

7. Abandonment to the Spirit [to God] with loving trust 

and faith and child-like yielding will carry one past 
all the hard places in experience; and cause us to 
come forth victorious over every form of enmity, sin, 
material obstructions, chronic diseases and death 
itself. 

1-3 II. W. Dresser. 5-6 Anon. 7 A. R. Militz. 




18 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 18 th. 

1. Divine Love always has met and always will meet 

every human need. 

2. There is guidance for each moment, love for every 

need. 

3. In the fullness of His love God has given us oppor¬ 

tunity to have experience; 

4. But He has been no less careful to provide for all the 

stages of our long evolution into conscious sonship. 

5. Hence His immanent Presence bears relation even to 

our illnesses; He is an ever-ready resource in times 
of trouble. 

6. Divine Love is our only physician, and never loses a 

case. 

7. It binds up the broken-hearted; heals the poor body, 

whose whole head is sick and whose whole heart 
is faint; 

8. Comforts such as mourn, wipes away the unavail¬ 

ing, tired tear, brings back the wanderer to the 
Father’s house in which are many mansions, many 
welcomes, many pardons for the penitent. 

9. To Him do we cling. He is the hope of the worlds, 

the helper of mankind, one and all. 

10. For where need is of Him, there He is. 

11. Verily, there is no saviour beside Him. 

12. And there is nothing man cannot do with the help 

of God. 

13. For with Him all things are possible. 

14. Fear, therefore, O man, not anything that shall befall 

thee. 

15. He will be with thee: He will not fail thee, nor for¬ 

sake thee. Be strong and of good courage. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2-5 H. W. Dresser. 6-8 Mary Baker G. 
Eddy. 9 Enoch. 10 Purana. 11 Hos. 12 A. Rodriguez. 
13 Matt. 14 Isa. 15 Josh. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 19 


January 19th. 

He appointed singers unto the Lord, that should praise 
the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, 
and to say. Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth for 
ever. 2 Chron. 20:21. 

Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me: And to him that 
ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation 
of God. Ps. 50:23. 

The Lord liveth; and blessed be my Rock; and exalted 
be the God of the rock of my salvation. 2 Sam. 22:4. 

In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy name 
for ever. Ps. 44:8. 

How good is man’s life, the mere living! How fit to 
employ all the heart and the soul and the senses forever 
in joy. 

How good and joyful the present, and still more, how 
rich and hopeful the future! For the truth is far better 
than we can imagine, wherefore we cannot plume our 
ideals for too lofty a flight. 

Nor need we “be afraid of too much happiness”. For 
“our most ecstatic glimpses have been but as moonbeams 
of an Arctic night compared with the broad noon of an 
eternal day”. Robert Browning, H. Wood and C. B. 
Newcomb. 

1. We, Thy people and sheep of Thy pasture will give 

Thee thanks forever: We will shew forth Thy praise 
to all generations. 

2. We will praise Thee; for we are fearfully and wonder¬ 

fully made: Marvellous are Thy works; and that our 
soul knoweth right well. 


1 Ps. 79:13. 2 Ps. 139:14. 




20 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 20th. 

There is that maketh himself rich, vet hath nothing: 
there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. 

Prov. 13:7. 

It is for love above all that I was created, and I accom¬ 
plish the purpose of God in my creation only as far as I 
love. Fenelon. 

Let the love that fills the mother’s heart as she watches 
over an only child, even such love, animate you. Buddha. 

Universal love is the magnet that renders existence 
eternal, attracts realities, and diffuses light with infinite 
joy. If this love penetrates the heart of man, all of the 
forces of the universe will be realized in him, for it is a 
divine power which transports him to a divine station, and 
he will make no progress until he is illumined thereby. 

Strive to increase the love power of reality, to make your 
hearts greater centers of attraction, to create new ideas and 
relationships. Abdul Baha. 

1. Love is God, ay, love is life; and if we would live well 

we must love well. 

2. The more love, the more religion. 

3. For the degree of love with which any one loves, meas¬ 

ures his religion. 

4. The thought of God will not be completely embodied 

until every heart throbs in responsive love without 
one jarring note to the All-Lover, in whom we live 
and move and have our being. 

1 J. L. M. Bain. 3-4 W. T. Stead and Acts . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


21 


January 21st. 

Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father which is in 
heaven is perfect. Matt. 5:4. 

He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but 
is clean every whit. John 13:10. 

Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy 
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the 
praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into 
His marvellous light. 1 Petr. 2:2. 

We love God so utterly, and know His judgment and 
criticism to be so unapproachably pure, that to offend Him, 
or rather to grieve Him, is an unspeakable pain. 

We actually hang with ecstatic delight upon the ap¬ 
proval of God. 

There is nothing in heaven or on earth which we would 
not suffer, do, give, offer, sacrifice, to gain it. 

It is the very breath of our existence. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with 

truth, and having on the breastplate of righteous¬ 
ness; and your feet shot with the preparation of the 
Gospel of peace; 

2. Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall 

be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

3. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the 

Spirit, which is the Word of God: 

4. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the 

spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance. 


1-4 Eph. 






22 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 22d. 

The Lord hath blotted out as a thick cloud thy trans¬ 
gressions, and as a cloud thy sins: 

Return unto Him, for He hath redeemed thee. 

Sing, 0 ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: 

Shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into 
singing, ye mountains, 0 forest and every tree therein: 

For the Lord hath redeemed thee from all thy in¬ 
iquities. 

He hath forgiven thy sins, for He reinembereth that thou 
art but flesh; a wind that passeth away and cometh not 
again. Isaiah. 

1. Listen to His gracious teaching, more rejoicing in His 

whole love than sorrowing in thy manifold fallings. 

2. And trust in His grace; resign thyself into His hands 

with the assurance that He is well pleased with them 
that hope in His mercy and grace. 

3. For He taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those 

that hope in His mercy. 

4. Draw nigh, therefore, unto Him with a pure heart, 

cheerful face, gazing eye and a joyful spirit, and 
plunge with thy whole being into the sea of the love 
of God, and forget all else save Him. 

5. So that thou mayest be filled with such spiritual senti¬ 

ments from the Kingdom of God, which will take the 
reins of desire from thy hands, and move thee with 
the power of thy Lord; 

6. And that thou mayest be growing in happiness in the 

love of God, and be kindled by the fire of His love, 
chanting verses of greeting and thanks, and be quick¬ 
ened by the breezes of life blown from the garden of 
the knowledge of God. 

1 St. Julian of Norwich. 2 G. Spring. 3 Ps . 4-6 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


23 


January 23d. 

The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the 
Lord is our King; He will save us. Isa. 33:22. 

The people that do know their God shall be strong. 

Dan. 11:32. 

Trust thou in the Lord; rest in Him, and wait patiently 
for Him. Ps. 115-57. 

Fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. 

Dan. 10:19. 

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain 
thee. Ps. 55:22. 

All is perfectly adjusted and overruled to the highest 
ends. M. B. Wallace. 

Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our 
shield. Ps. 33:20. 

1. Be content to live day by day as God leads you, making 

use of every moment, without looking beyond it. 

2. For God never deals with us in the ways we foresee. 

3. Very often the phantoms we have raised melt away, and 

so all our forebodings only tend to disturb us. 

4. Enjoy the blessings of this day, if God sends them, and 

the evils of it bear patiently and sweetly; 

5. For this day only is ours, we are dead to yesterday, 

and we are not yet born to the morrow. 

6. But if we look ahead, and bring into one day’s thoughts 

the evil of many, certain and uncertain, what will be 
and what will never be, our load will be as untoler- 
able as it is unreasonable. 


1-3 Fenelon. 4-6 J. Taylor. 




24 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 24th. 

Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. 

Eph. 6:10. 

Every effort tells. H. W. Dresser. 

Concentrate your spiritual forces. Arise with much 
fervor and enthusiasm. Let a new attraction take posses- 
V sion of your hearts. Let a new spirit sweep over your 
temples, so that the fire of the love of God which is en¬ 
kindled in your holy of holies may flame forth and set up 
a spiritual conflagration in the whole of the world. 

Abdul Baha. 

Love is curious of little things, or circumstances and 
measures and little accidents; not allowing itself any in¬ 
firmity which it strives not to master, aiming at what it 
cannot yet reach, desiring to be of an angelical fervor, and 
fears every image of offence; is as much afflicted at an idle 
word as some at an act of adultery, and will not allow itself 
so much anger as will disturb a child, nor endure the im¬ 
purity of a dream. J. Taylor. 

1. The act sets up a force which is the spirit of the deed. 

2. Successive acts done in furtherance of a purpose pro¬ 

duce an accumulating spiritual force which never 
dies. 

3. Therefore we must be active—we must be up and 

doing. 

4. Our deeds build up our characters, and the building of 

our characters is our task. 

5. Life in this world is for this purpose. 

6. We are, while here, more or less arbiters of our own 

destiny, but in the worlds to come we cannot progress 
except by grace of the Divine Will. 


1-6 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


25 


January 25th. 

Seek the Lord, and ye shall live. Amos 5:4. 

1. Prayer is so necessary, and the source of so many 

blessings, that the soul which has found this treas- 
ure cannot help returning to it whenever it is left 
to itself. 

2. Verily, prayer or “communion with God is the very 

breath of success and happiness here and hereafter”. 

3. It is conducive to the joy of the heart, and causes 

spirituality and fragrance. Turn, therefore to 
prayer. 

4. Pray heartily; seek after God in the depth of your 

heart. 

5. In spite of your unworthiness, fly to Him with the 

freedom and familiarity of a child who cannot 
doubt his father’s kindness. 

6. Tell Him all your difficulties, all the evil suggestions 

of self-will, all the anxieties of your soul. 

7. In prayer alone you will find wisdom, courage, pa¬ 

tience, gentleness, firmness. 

8. In the silence of prayer God will take away your mind, 

and fill you solely with His own. 

9. He alone must be all in all. 

10. Pray about.everything: you cannot pray too much. 

11. Nor can you find readier help in any other way. 

12. Just the attitude [of prayer] of communion and trust 

is often the most helpful and uplifting. 

13. For we open through prayer a “hidden door in our con¬ 

sciousness through which come new life and power 
and energy from God”. 

I Fenelon. 2 Cora Linn Daniels. 3 Abdul Baha. 4-11 Fene- 
lon. 12 O. Huckel. 




26 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 26th. 

We must love all humanity and must see all humanity 
submerged in the ocean of God’s mercy. Abdul Baha. 

A tender sentiment felt, or a kind word spoken, at the 
right moment, is never wasted. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see 
your good works and glorify your Father which is in 
heaven. Matt. 5:16. 

1. Virtue goes out to others from all who desire the good 

of others. 

2. If you long to bless the world, you can bless it by 

being heavenly-minded, prone to charity and good¬ 
will, earnest in endeavor to he better and strong in 
faith. 

3. Your thought is your atmosphere, which touches other 

thought atmospheres either for good or evil. 

4. For you are a channel for forces and thoughts good 

or bad. 

5. And this is your “highest privilege and office”, that is, 

to be a channel, “through which the Divine life shall 
flow out to invigorate and inspire”. 

6. And if you consecrate your thoughts and your deeds to 

the service of God, think good, bear the fruits of the 
Spirit, which are thoughts and acts of love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, good¬ 
ness, faith, temperance, you ever set into positive 
motion the forces within that work for peace and 
good to you and to every other human being. 

1-3 Cora Linn Daniels. 5 H. Wood. 6 E. Towne. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 27 


January 27th. 

We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteous¬ 
ness by faith. Gal. 5:5. 

Do you realize what failure means there—remorse, re¬ 
gret and sorrow for lost opportunities; words and acts 
your agony cannot recall; neglect too late to repair? So 
subtle is the far-reaching influence of a life, that not only 
must you meet your own failure and its influence on those 
about you, but often for generations face the effect of the 
good or evil you did or left undone. This is judgment. 

J. F. Clarke. 

You come [to the other world] as a whole, not in parts. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. And I saw no temple there: for the Lord God almighty 

and the Lamb are the temple of it. 

2. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the 

moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten 
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 

3. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk 

in the light of it: 

4. And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and 

honor into it. 

5. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for 

there shall be no night there. 

6. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations 

into it. 

7. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that 

defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or 
maketh a lie: but they which are written in the 
Lamb’s book of life. 


1-7 Rev . 21:22-27. 





28 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 28th. 

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanks¬ 
giving. Col. 4:2. 

Bid thy people prayer, and persevere in it; we do not 
ask thee to provide; we do provide, and the issue shall be 
to piety. Koran. 

1. Good works adorn the soul, but prayer is something 

exceeding great. 

2. All things proceed from it; it is the beginning and the 

end of every good. 

3. And there is nothing sweeter in the world of existence 

than prayer. 

4. It creates spirituality, mindfulness and celestial feel¬ 

ings, begets new attraction of the Kingdom and 
engenders the susceptibilities of the higher intelli¬ 
gence. 

5. It is by itself a light to our heart, an illumination to 

our sight, a life to our soul, and an exaltation to 
our being. 

6. Prayer is not conquering God’s reluctance, but taking 

hold upon God’s willingness. 

7. It is to trust in God, and to be submissive in all things 

to Him. 

8. Be submissive, then things will change for you. 

9. Love God’s will, and pray with an attracted heart, 

with a spirit stirred by the Glad Tidings of God. 

10. Then the doors of the Kingdom of mysteries shall be 
opened before your face and you shall comprehend 
the realities of all things. 

1-2 Giles of Assisi. 3-5 Abdul Baha. 6 P. Brooks. 7-10 Abdul 
Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


29 


January 29th. 

Praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise Him, all ye 
people; for His merciful kindness is great toward us, and 
the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the 
Lord. Ps. 117. 

Always show a face shining with holy joy. 

St. Francis de Sales. 

Be calm, be joyous, and not only when the sky is clear, 
but when the clouds gather as well. 

To be calm and brave under difficulties is a proof of 
spiritual force. Abdul Baha. 

1. Gentleness and cheerfulness: these come before all 

morality. They are the perfect duties. 

2. And to be happy is the first step to being pious. 

3. It is weak, cowardly and selfish to be sad or afraid. 

4. Wherefore “we ought to be as cheerful as we can, if 

only because to be happy ourselves is the most 
effectual contribution to the happiness of others”. 

5. And a man should make life and nature happier to 

others, or he had better never been born. 

6. Try, and live happily, then! 

7. Live in the joy of the Lord and sing the tune of His 

love. 

8. Put aside sorrow and enter the life of gladness. 

9. Don’t fret and worry over what can’t be helped. It 

only makes you more unhappy. 

10. If it rains to-day, it is all the more likely to be clear 

to-morrow. 

11. Force yourself to smile, refuse to believe in the shad¬ 

ows; be joyful to-day. You can! 

l-2 R. Stevenson. 3 A. C. Benson. 4 J. Lubbock. 5 R. W. 
Emerson. 7 Theoscphical Messenger. 9-11 Magazine of Mys¬ 
teries. 





30 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


January 30th. 

Throw off the whole load of sin, doubt and fear on God 
and rest; rest in the Lord! Let your intellect, your judg¬ 
ment, your reason rest in God. 

Rest in the Lord as He reveals Himself, merciful and 
gracious. Have faith in Him. Wait, wait for Him. He 
will come and take care of you. 

J. H. Vincent, J. Hamilton and Thomas a Kempis. 

Make the supreme leap of faith, even where all the way 
is dark. 

Look not out at anything, fear none of those things you 
may be exposed to suffer either outwardly or inwardly; 
but trust the Lord over all, and your life will spring, and 
grow and refresh you, and you will learn obedience and 
faithfulness daily more and more, even by your exercises 
and sufferings; yea, the Lord will teach you the very 
mystery of faith and obedience; the wisdom, power, love 
and goodness of the Lord ordering everything for you; 
and ordering your hearts in everything. 

H. W. Dresser and W. Pennington. 

1. He will guide you in a sure path, though it may be a 

rough one. Though shadows hang over it, yet will 
He be with you. And He will bring you home at last. 

2. Through much suffering it may be, and weariness, in 

much sadness and loneliness, in griefs that the world 
never knows, and under burdens that the nearest 
never suspect. 

3. Yet He will suffice for all. 

4. By His eye or by His voice He will guide you, if you 

be docile and gentle; by His staff and by His rod, if 
you wander or are willful: Anyhow, and by all 
means, He will bring you to His rest. 


1-4 H. E. Manning. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 31 


January 31st. 

The more we throw off the earthly nature the more we 
become enlightened in things above it. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of 
life. Rev. 2:7. 

He did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek 
the Lord. 2 Chron. 12:14. 

I shrink to give up my life, and thus do not plunge into 
the great waters of life. R. Tagore. 

Live for the other life. Endure as seeing Him who is 
invisible. Work by faith; work by hope; work by love; 
work by courage; work by trust; work by the sweet side 
of your mind; and so be like Christ, until you dwell with 
Him. H. W. Beecher. 

As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring 
the flowers, or its color and scent, so let the wise man 
dwell on earth. Buddha. 

1. The purpose and end of the world of creation is 

spiritual life, knowledge of God, love of God, fear 
of disobedience to God and the perfections of the 
world of humanity. 

2. Should man characterize himself with these lofty qual¬ 

ities and virtues, the physical conditions will, un¬ 
doubtedly, not seem interesting to him, and he will 
detach himself from them. 

3. His heart will become illumined with the light of God, 

he will hear the call of the unseen joy, and will be¬ 
come the center of the names and attributes of God. 


1-3 Abdul Baha. 





32 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 1st. 

All that which pleases is but for the moment. 

All that which troubles is but for the moment; 

That only is important which is eternal. Anon. 

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: there¬ 
fore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty. 

For He maketh sore, and bindeth up: He woundeth, and 
His hands make whole. Job 5:17-18. 

No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, hut 
grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable 
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised 
thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, 
and the feeble knees. Heb. 12:11-12. 

Trials purify mortals and deliver them from them¬ 
selves. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. The Lord will not cast off for ever: 

2. But though He cause grief, yet will He have compas¬ 

sion according to the multitude of His mercies. 

3. For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children 

of men; but is very pityful and of tender mercy. 

4. Whatever hath come to man hath come through love. 

5. From his childhood God hath been laying His fatherly 

hands upon him, and always in benediction; 

6. Even the strokes of His hands are blessings, and among 

the chiefest man hath ever received. 

7. Therefore let us be of hope, let us be trustful, silent 

and patient, let nothing affright us: For we can rest 
assured that all will come to a good and blessed end. 

1-3 Lam . and Jas . 5-6 H. E. Manning. 7 M. Molinos. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


33 


February 2d. 

O our Lord! On Thee do we rely, and unto Thee we 
turn and unto Thee the journey is. Koran. 

Among the children of God, while there is always that 
fearful and bowed apprehension of His majesty, and that 
sacred dread of all offense to Him, which is called the 
fear of God, yet of real and essential fear there is not any, 
but clinging in confidence to Him as their Rock and Fort¬ 
ress, their Shepherd and Deliverer, and perfect love and 
casting out of fear; so that it is not possible that while the 
mind is rightly bent on Him there should be any dread of 
anything either earthly or supernatural; and the more 
dreadful seems the height of His majesty, the less fear they 
feel that dwell in the shadow of it. John Ruskin. 

1. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He lead- 

eth me beside the still waters. 

3. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the path of 

righteousness for His name’s sake. 

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow 

of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me: 
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. 

5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of 

mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil: 
my cup runneth over. 

6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days 

of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord 
forever. 


1-6 Psalm 23. 




34 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 3d. 

As thy days, so shall be thy strength. Deut. 33:25. 
Come thou unto God, when it is not well with thee. 

For He hath power to help: and He is the Lord that 
healeth thee. 

A faithful God is He, who shall stablish thee, and keep 
thee from evil. 

Thomas a Kempis, Chron., Ex. and Thess. 
Give us help from our trouble: for vain is the help of 
man. 

Be merciful unto us, and bless us; 

And cause Thy face to shine upon us; 

That Thy way may be known upon earth; 

Thy saving health among all nations. Ps. 

1. Behold, God is on our side; we will not fear: He is 

our strength and our song, and is become our sal¬ 
vation; 

2. He is our Redeemer; and our Redeemer is strong. 

3. The Lord of Hosts is His name. The Lord of Hosts is 

with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. 

4. Is anything too hard for Him? 

5. Verily, He is enough for us, a good guardian is He; 

6. But helpless are we without Him. 

7. Therefore will we look unto the Lord; we will wait 

for the God of our salvation: Our God will hear us. 

8. He hath torn, and He will heal us; 

9. He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. 

10. For He is the God of salvation. 

11. And unto Him belong the issues from death. 

1 Ps . 2-3 Job, Jer. 4 Ps - 4 Gen. 5 Koran. 6 Anon. 7 Micah. 
8-9 Hos. 10-11 Ps . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


35 


February 4th. 

Trust in the Lord and do good. Delight thyself also in 
the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine 
heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; 
and He shall bring it to pass. Ps. 37:3-5. 

Rest thou assured of the bounty and providence of the 
heavenly Lord. Be thou rejoiced. Abdul Baha. 

0 son of Spirit! The Holy Spirit heralds comfort to 
thee: Why doest thou grieve? Baha’o’llah. 

Thou oughtest not to judge according to thy present feel¬ 
ing; nor to take any grief, or give thyself over to it, from 
whencesoever it cometh, as though all hope of escape were 
quite taken away. Thomas a Kempis. 

As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be. 

Abdul Baha. 

If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say 
unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, 
and be thou planted into the sea; and it should obey you. 

Luke 17:6. 

Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have be¬ 
lieved. John 20:29. 

Be not faithless, but believing. John 20:27. 

To be forever wallowing in the bogs of doubt, to be 
drawn continually into the quicksands of fear, or blown 
ceaselessly about by the winds of anxiety, is to be a slave. 

Such are taught by affliction, and ultimately pass from 
weakness to strength by the stress of bitter experience. 

James Allen. 




36 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 5th. 

O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh 
come. Ps. 65:2. 

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation 
is from Him. Ps. 63:5. 

Verily, if we ask anything according to the will of God, 
He heareth us. I John 5:14. 

Spirit has influence, prayer has spiritual effect. 

Abdul Baha. 

Let us turn our hearts toward God in a simple, familiar 
spirit, full of confidence in Him. Fenelon. 

There is no need of much time to love God; to renew 
ourselves in His presence, to raise our hearts towards Him, 
or adore Him in the depths of the heart; to offer to Him 
what is done, and what is suffered. Fenelon. 

1. It is your [duty] to draw to you every attribute and 

quality that you can conceive of [God]. 

2. You want to be fearless. 

3. You want perfect health. 

4. You want complete control of appetite. 

5. You may want power to cease from ugly thoughts. 

6. You may want power to rid yourself of a mind which 

sees only the discouraging and gloomy side in every¬ 
thing. 

7. You need patience, you need meekness, you need faith, 

you need love. 

8. You need many other qualities of character. 

9. And to gain, improve and increase these you have but 

to ask persistently of God and it shall be given you. 
1-6 P. Mulford. 8-9 P. Mulford. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


37 


February 6th. 

Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a 
little child, he shall not enter therein. Mark 10:15. 

How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, 
and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? 

John 4:44. 

Whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant 
of all. Mark 10:44. 

The Lord lifteth up the meek. Ps. 147:6. 

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30. 

My grace is sufficient for thee: For my strength is made 
perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9. 

Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and 
have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art 
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. 

Rev. 3:17. 


If thou couldst empty all thyself of self, 

Like to a shell dishabited; 

Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf, , 
And say, ‘This is not dead,’ 

And fill thee with Himself instead. 

But thou art all replete with very thou, 

And hast such shrewd activity, 

That when He comes, He says, ‘ This is enow 
Unto itself—t’were better let it be: 

It is so small and full, there is no room for Me.’ 


Anon. 




38 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 7th. 

Walk as children of light: Proving what is acceptable 
unto the Lord. Eph. 5:8. 

Salvation-heaven is the conscious realization of God in 
this life, which is gained by love, kindness and good deeds. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. One should not so much endeavor to eschew evil, as 
to enlarge and develop good. 

S 2. It is more important to set the mind on doing and 
being good, than to set the will to resist and over¬ 
come evil. 

3. We make too much of what we call evil in other 

people’s lives; altogether too much ... of the 
transitory and immature on the surface of life. 

4. These are only as contrast to the real and abiding. 

5. The real riches [are] kindness and gentleness, . . . 

faith [and hope]. These are the things that we 
store up eternally, and that none can take from us. 

6. These let us seek. 

7. Let us “cultivate spirituality, goodness, mercy, love”. 

8. These, crowned by faith, hope and charity, make the 

elements of eternal life. More or less so [we] will 
be as [we] possess them. 

9. Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all 

sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabun¬ 
dance of being is on the side of God, good. 

10. And sin is to be overcome, not so much by maintain¬ 
ing a direct opposition to it, as by cultivating oppo¬ 
site principles. 

1-2 Cora Linn Daniels. 3-6 C. B. Patterson. 7-8 Cora Linn 
Daniels. 9 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 10 B. Fuller. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


39 


February 8th. 

Bless our God ye people, and make the voice of His 
praise to be heard: which holdeth our soul in life, and 
suffereth not our feet to be moved. Ps. 66:8-9. 

Look not too far forward, either with longing, or with 
fear; to-morrow will dawn with to-morrow’s light. Anon. 

Weeping may endure for a night, hut joy cometh in the 
morning. Ps. 30:5. 

Go forward, serenely conscious of Divine power sustain¬ 
ing you at all times. Then the light will shine through 
every cloud that crosses your pathway. Children of light 
are troubled by no outward storm. M. B. Wallace. 

Let all creatures be prosperous and happy. Let them be 
of joyful mind. All beings that have life, be they feeble 
or strong, be they minute or vast, seen or unseen, near or 
afar, let all beings be joyful. Buddha. 

1. Let your countenance be cheerful and pleasant during 

the time of your existence. 

2. Make sunshine! Cultivate a sunny disposition, an 

eager purpose, noble and generous aspirations. 

3. Keep yourself in vital communion with the world about 

you. 

4. Sow good cheer, sow courage, sow assurance. Deny 

the old enemy. Slay dread, for it is verily of death. 

5. Anticipate nothing but good in the future. Resolve to 

be happy. Don’t pity yourself. 

1 Ptah-hotep. 2-3 U. N. Gestefeld and Theosophical World. 
4 J. L. M. Bain. 5 F. C. Haddock. 





40 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 9th. 

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one 
another. John 13:34. 

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue 
it. Ps. 34:14. 

/ 1. O child of God! Beware lest you offend the feelings 
of anyone, or sadden the heart of any person, or 
move the tongue in reproach of and finding fault 
with anybody, whether he is friend or stranger, 
believer or enemy. 

2. Pray in behalf of all and entreat God for forgiveness 

and bounty for all. 

3. Never rebuke or reproach any soul. 

r' 4. Never judge nor condemn, never arraign nor censure. 
Not a word. 

5. Avoid every rude or unkind expression. 

6. Never make a disparaging remark of another. 

7. Pause. Be still. Not a word, emphatically not even a 

look, that will mar the sweet serenity of the soul. 

8. Know God. Keep silence before Him. Hearken to 

hear His voice. This is the way to honor and to 
know Him. 

9. Listen to obey. Words make trouble. Be still. Cast 

all on Him. And not a word. 

10. We think so hard, pray so hard, and trust so little. 

11. But, with God’s help, we shall not worry. We shall 

not be afraid. We shall not give way to anger. 

12. We will be kind to everyone with whom we come in 

contact. 

13. We will be cheerful and hopeful. 

14. We will trust in God and bravelv face the future. 


1-3 Abdul Baha. 4-14 Anon. 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


41 


February 10th. 

God is Love. Can we ask Him to be more? 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

His habitation high is here, and nigh, 

His arm encircles me, and mine, and all. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbear¬ 
ance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of 
God leadeth thee to repentance. Rom. 2:4. 

1. What a comforting and sustaining thought it is that 

an infinite power presides over us which is kinder 
to us than we are to ourselves, kinder than we can 
be to those we love best; 

2. A force which is always ready to heal our hurts and 

to restore us, no matter how we have sinned in vio¬ 
lating nature’s law. 

3. How consoling it is to know, that this power is love, 

that God’s unchangeable disposition towards us, His 
children, is only the communication of His own 
love, goodness and happiness to us, according to our 
capacities; 

4. That, in reality, we are “surrounded by a circle of 

Divine Love; and [that] nothing but good can 
come” to us. 

5. 0 let us turn our hearts to this Love. 

6. Let us have perfect and absolute confidence in the love 

and bounty of God. 

7. And let us love Him. That is, let us let God love us; 

let us give welcome to that, that is, to God’s love, 
knowing and believing the love God has to us. 

1-2 0. S. Marden. 3 W. Law. 4 E. W. Wilcox. 6 Abdul Baha. 
7 H. Bushnell. 




42 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 11th. 

Teach me to do Thy will; lor Thou art my God; Thy 
Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 

Ps. 143:10. 

We must sacrifice everything; every plan, every longing 
and ideal must be given up completely to the will of God. 

We must look to God for all we desire, all we wish to 
attain. The will of God must work out its purpose in us. 
Our human will must be laid down in sacrifice and love. 

Abdul Baha. 

Sacrifice thyself in the divine path, close thine eye to 
every pleasure and strive with all thy soul that thou 
mayest disappear and be lost, like unto a drop in the 
ocean of the love of God. Abdul Baha. 

The reward of obedience is the inward manifestation of 
the Divine Presence. Anon. 

1. The truly spiritual life begins when one asks, in pro¬ 

found humility, What wilt Thou? What is Thy will, 
O Spirit, to whom I owe all I am, whose purpose for 
me includes all that I need, whose love is ever ready 
to sustain and perfect, whose presence I have so long 
opposed and ignored? 

2. Ever on and on the advancing Love moves within and 

upon us, uplifting, sustaining, perfecting. 

3. It pauses not, nor sleeps. 

4. It ever watches and guards. 

5. Our part is to become acquainted with its presence; 

and so, dwelling with it, to withdraw all opposition, 
and be faithful in the least and the greatest to its 
guidance. 

1-5 H. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 43 


February 12th. 

All the good things for which you pray sooner or later 
to attain, may be yours at once, if you only will not stand 
in your own way; if only, leaving the past alone, and 
committing the future to the hand of Providence, you will 
direct the present, and that only in the way of holiness 
and justice. M. Aurelius. 

L Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or 
what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye 
shall put on. 

2. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than 

raiment ? 

3. Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither 

do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your 
heavenly Father feedeth them. 

4. Are ye not much better than they? 

5. And if He clotheth the grass of the field, which to-day 

is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He 
not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

6. Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we 

eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal 
shall we be clothed? 

7. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. 

8. For your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of 

all these things. 

9. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His 

righteousness; and all these things shall be added 
unto you. 

10. Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the 

morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. 

11. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. 


1-11 Matt. 




44 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 13th. 

Wherein can I hope, or wherein ought I to trust, save in 
the great mercy of God alone? I will open my heart 
wide, unboundedly wide, and let God’s love flow in as a 
torrent. I will fear nothing on my way; God will lead me 
by the hand, if only I trust Him wholly, and am filled 
rather with love for Him than fear for myself. 

Thomas a Kempis and Fenelon. 

1. Shew me Thy ways, 0 Lord; teach me Thy paths. 

Lead ine in Thy truth, and teach me; for Thou art 
the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the 
day. 

2. Remember, 0 Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy 

loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old. 

3. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my trans¬ 

gressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou 
me for Thy goodness’ sake, 0 Lord. 

4. Cause me to hear Thy loving-kindness, for in Thee 

do I trust: 

5. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; 

for I lift up my soul unto Thee. 

6. Shew Thy marvellous loving-kindness, 0 Thou that 

savest by Thy right hand them that put their trust 
in Thee. 

7. 0 save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee. Be merci¬ 

ful unto me, 0 Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily. 

8. Rejoice the soul of Thy servant: for unto Thee, 0 

Lord, do I lift up my soul. 

9. For Thou Lord art good, and ready to forgive; and 

plenteous in mercy unto them that call upon Thee. 

10. Yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my 
refuge. And I will sing of Thy mercies, O Lord, 
forever. 


1-10 Ps. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


45 


February 14th. 

Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Ps. 81:10. 

I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain; 
I, the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are 
right. Isa. 45:19. 

When Thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto 
Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Ps. 27:8. 

Let not him who seeks cease until he finds. Jesus. 

Prayer is a ladder by which every one can ascend to 
heaven. Mohammed. 

We must pray only because we love God, not because 
we fear Him, or fear hell or hope for divine bounty or for 
heaven. Abdul Baha. 

1. Ask, and it shall be given you; 

2. Seek, and ye shall find; 

3. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 

4. For every one that asketh receiveth; 

5. And he that seeketh findeth; 

6. And to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 

7. Truly, God is more willing to give than you are to 

receive. 

8. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom 

each need of man is always known and by whom it 
will be supplied. 

1-6 Matt . 7 Anon. 8 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




46 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 15th. 

Our pride of personality will be a curse to us, if we 
cannot give it up in love. 

We must know that it is only the revelation of the In¬ 
finite which is endlessly new and eternally beautiful in us, 
and which gives the real meaning of our self. R. Tagore. 

While it is dangerous for us to perceive how much we 
are fallen and how lowly is our lot, without realizing how 
great we are notwithstanding, it is more dangerous to 
recognize our greatness without our lowliness; 

But it is still more dangerous to be in ignorance both of 
one and the other. 

Man is so great that his greatness is proved by the very 
knowledge of his wretchedness. 

Man is but a reed—the weakest reed in nature: but he 
is a reed that thinks. 

All our dignity consists in thought. 

It is by it that we must rise, not by our bodily powers, 
not by our length of life. 

Let us, then, strive to think well. B. Pascal. 

1. What have we that we did not receive? 

2. Verily, whatever we are and whatever we have, we 

have received all from God and not from ourselves. 

3. Our power to think, to know, to live, to work, to enjoy, 

to be, is all His pure gift. 

4. Indeed, we are not sufficient of ourselves even to think 

anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. 

1 Cor. 2 J. Ruysbroeck. 3 Baha’o’llah. 4 Cor. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


47 


February 16th. 

I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye 
shall be my people. Lev. 26:12. 

The end of life is to be like unto God; and the soul 
following God will be like unto Him: He being the be¬ 
ginning, middle and end of all things. Socrates. 

If ye be informed of the wonders of My generosity and 
grace which I have deposited in yourselves, ye will cer¬ 
tainly be cut from all directions and seeking to know 
your own selves, which is identical with knowing Myself; 
will find yourselves independent of all save Me and will 
see the ocean of My providence and the deeps of My 
beneficence in yourselves, with your outward and inward 
eye as manifest and clear as the sun shining from the name 
of My glorious Majesty. Baha’o’llah. 

1. Out of Him cometh all we are; 

2. Of Him we are all made; 

3. Lost from Him we can never be; 

4. One with Him we must always remain. 

5. And it is our joy and His love and grace which makes 

each one a facet on the face of His universal globe, 
reflecting both exterior and interior, and responding 
to the light within and without Him and between 
each other. 

6. But the purpose of “linking spirit with material in the 
union seen in the human or intelligent being is to 
produce individualized consciousness, which, like 
our Father Himself, is unlimited in power, and 
capable of perfection, which is bliss”. 

1-6 Cora Linn Daniels. 




48 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 17 th. 

One must strive for whatsoever is eternal and everlast¬ 
ing in order day by day to become more illumined, day 
by day to grow stronger and day by day find new life. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Let love be without dissimulation. 

2. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 

3. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly 

love; in honor preferring one another; 

4. Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the 

Lord. 

5. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing 

instant in prayer; 

6. Distributing to the necessities of saints; 

7. Given to hospitality. 

8. Bless them which persecute you: bless them and curse 

not. 

9. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with 

them that weep. 

10. Be of the same mind one toward another. 

11. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low 

estate. 

12. Be not wise in your own conceits. 

13. Recompense to no man evil for evil. 

14. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 

15. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peace¬ 

ably with all men. 

16. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give 

place unto wrath: 

17. For it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, 

saith the Lord. 


1-17 Rom. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


49 


February 18th. 

Lo, I am with you alwav, even unto the end of the 
world. Matt. 28:20. 

Is my hand shortened at all, that I cannot redeem? Or 
have I no power to deliver? Isa. 50:2. 

Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye 
in My hand. Jer. 18:6. 

I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. 

Jer. 1:19. 

My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee 
rest. Ex. 33:14. 

Nothing in this world is sufficient for man. God alone 
is sufficient for him. God is the protector of man. All 
the world will not protect the soul. Abdul Baiia. 

A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from 
heaven. John 3:27. 

Rest assured in the fact that the breath of the Holy 
Spirit will aid you—provided no doubts obtain in your 
hearts. Know this for a certainty. Abdul Baha. 

God is infinite, therefore ever-present, and there is no 
other power nor presence. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understand¬ 
ing is infinite. Ps. 147:5. 

How happy is the man who lays hold upon God, trusts 
in Him, remains firm and inwardly becomes confirmed in 
the love of God and takes refuge under His banner. 

Abdul Baha. 




50 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 19 th. 

Ye shall know them by their fruit. Matt. 7:16. 

Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord; that walketh 
in His ways. For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands: 
Happy shall thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 

Ps. 126:1-2. 

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which 
no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently Jest any 
man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness 
springing up trouble you. Heb. 12:14-15. 

In everything be liberal, noble-hearted, kindly, benevo¬ 
lent, quick to appreciate worth, ready to oblige, and 
regretful when unable to do so; delicate in meeting people 
half-way, in entering into their feelings, sparing them 
annoyance, suggestive, knowing how to enhance kindness 
by avoiding display. Fenelon. 

If it is not seemly, do it not; if it is not true, speak it 
not. M. Aurelius. 

1. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your 

mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, 
that it may minister grace to the hearers; 

2. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are 

sealed unto the day of redemption. 

3. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour 

and evil speaking be put away from you with all 
malice. 

4. Be tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God 

for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. 

1-4 Eph . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 51 


February 20th. 

A man’s wisdom makes his face to shine. Eccles. 8:1. 

Power dwells with cheerfulness; hope puts us in a 
working mood. R. W. Emerson. 

All things respond to the call of rejoicing: all things 
gather where life is a song. Anon. 

We should go forward with blithesome heart-song, 
happy in the consciousness of living here and now. 

G. Kleiser. 

Happiness is the natural result of the fulfilment of God’s 
will, which continually increases throughout eternity as 
your expanding souls grow in capacity for good. Anon. 

1. Spiritual happiness is light, while sorrow is darkness. 

2. This happiness is the fundamental basis from which 

man is created and worlds are originated. 

3. This happiness is but the love of God. 

4. Were it not for this happiness the world of existence 

would not have been created. 

5. But not only is this happiness underlying all reality, 

but the star of happiness is in every heart. 

6. We must remove the clouds so that it may twinkle 

radiantly. 

7. Happiness is an eternal condition. 

8. When it is once established, man will ascend to the 

supreme heights of bliss. 


1-8 Abdul Baha. 




52 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 21st. 

Woe is me for my hurt. My wound is grievous: But I 
said, Truly this is grief, and I must bear it. Jer. 10:19. 

My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither 
be weary of His correction: For whom the Lord loveth 
He correcteth. Prov. 3:11. 

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth 
forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless 
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 

Ps. 126. 

If your heart is depressed on account of health, live’i- 
hood or vocation, let not these things affect you. The 
Lord of Hosts is with you, ready to restore your health 
and alleviate your burden. He has prepared heavenly 
food for you; and everlasting glory has He bestowed upon 
you. 

These Glad-Tidings should cause you to soar in the 
atmosphere of joy and make you thankful unto God 
forever and ever. Abdul Baha. 

1. Sorrow has its reward. 

2. It never leaves us where it found us. 

3. The furnace separates the gold from the dross that the 

precious metal may be graven with the image of God. 

4. Oh, how purifying sorrow alone is—how sweet in spite 

of all the pain it brings. 

5. What a rich flow of Divine bounty is the arrow of 

oppression and adversity. 

6. Sorrow is the harbinger of joy. 

7. And, indeed, all our trials and tribulations are bless¬ 

ings in disguise. 

1-3 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 4 Fenelon. 5 Abdul Baha. 6 Mary 
Baker G. Eddy. 7 H. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


53 


February 22nd. 

The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He 
shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, 
trusting in the Lord. His heart is established, he shall 
not be afraid. Ps. 112:6-8. 

Be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be 
weak: for your work shall he rewarded. II Chron. 15:7. 

Set your hope in God, and forget not the works of 
the Lord, but keep His commandments; and be not as 
your fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation that set 
not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast 
with God. Ps. 78:7. 

1. Do not doubt. Be confident and sure. It will help 

you. 

2. Replace your doubt thoughts with faith thoughts. 

3. Trust, and give yourself up to God day by day, with¬ 

out looking further. He will carry you in His 
arms as a loving mother carries her child. 

4. Believe, hope, love, with a child’s simplicity, in every 

need looking with affection and trust to your 
heavenly Father. 

5. Who is our Refuge and our Redeemer. 

6. Wherefore hush yourself to your feverish vanities, 

and drop your busy thoughts and cares. 

7. Do not let outward circumstances worry you. 

8. Do not try to carry yourself upon your own shoulder. 

9. Do not come to beg at your own door. 

10. But in silence seek the face of the Father, who loves 
you; and leave all your burdens on His hands who 
can and will hear all. 

1 Abdul Baha. 2 E. Towne. 3-4 Fenelon. 6 E. B. Pusey. 7 
Abdul Baha. 8-10 R. Tagore. 




54 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 23d. 

Come and live in the sunshine of your being. Come 
out of the shadows and the dark places. 

You are framed for happiness. You are a child of 
heaven. 

Purity, wisdom, love, plenty, joy, and peace—these are 
the eternal realities of the Kingdom. 

They are the heritage of the holy Christ-child who shall 
come to birth in your soul. James Allen. 

When you are happy you are being held by right 
thoughts. It is when you are unhappy or troubled that 
you need to take command of yourself and direct your 
thought upon the truth of being, then is the time to 
affirm what you cannot feel. Later you will “feel” the 
truth and be happy again. E. Towne. 

The sky is as blue, the stars shine as brightly and 
solemnly for you, as for those upon the sunny slopes of 
happiness. Hold your dull life up to the light and see 
how it will be transfigured. J. F. Clarke. 

1. Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice! 

2. Let your moderation be known unto all men; the Lord 

is at hand. 

3. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer 

and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests 
be made known unto God. 

4. Then the peace of God which passeth all understand¬ 

ing, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ 
Jesus. 

1-4 Phil. 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


55 


February 24th. 

Any man who trusts in God and endeavors shall lack 
nothing. B. King. 

Perfect trust is that full and frank communion by which 
we realize that the Father is with us. Perfect trust is the 
conquest of fear through the absorbing consciousness of 
God. O. Huckel. 

We can darken our windows with fear and gloom, or we 
can flood our life with sunshine until our worst adversaries 
will take flight. H. R. Albee. 

1. The Lord will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind 

is stayed on Him: because he trusteth in Him. 

2. Let us, therefore, trust in the Lord forever: 

3. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. 

4. Let us trust in His bounty and His bestowals. 

5. Let us be exhilarated with the heavenly breath. 

6. Let us be illumined and exalted by the heavenly 

Glad-Tidings. 

7. The Lord has ever dealt with man in mercy and 

kindness; 

8. And He who conferred the Divine Spirit in former 

times is abundantly able and capable at all times 
and periods to grant the same favors. 

9. Therefore let us be hopeful. 

10. There is no cessation to His bounty. 

11. The Divine Spirit is penetrating from eternity to 

eternity, for it is the bounty of God, and the bounty 
of God is eternal. 

12. It is moving, circulating, and becomes effective wher¬ 

ever capacity is developed to receive it. 

1-3 Isa . 4-12 Abdul Baha. 




56 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 25th. 

If a man keep my saying he shall never see death. 

John 8:51. 

There must be a revolution of ideas concerning death. 
Men must learn to think no longer that it is a thing of 
horror. Cora Linn Daniels. 

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 
Believe in God and believe also in me. In my Father’s 
house are many mansions. John 14:1-2. 

May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
glory, give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation 
in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding 
being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope 
of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His 
inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding 
greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according 
to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought 
in Christ. Eph. 1:17-20. 

1. Even now we know that you and every man and every 

woman will yet be unutterably lovely in the bright¬ 
ness of unspeakable splendor. 

2. Why, then, even for a moment, suggest that life eternal 

is a task? 

3. Nay, rather a sweet and swift movement upward, borne 

on by the ever-present attraction of love for its own; 

4. Which, let it act upon the spirit when or where it 

will, in the body or out of the body, bears its divine 
command of joy to every created being. 


-4 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 57 


February 26th. 

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the 
world, and they that dwell therein. Ps. 24:1. 

We live in the lap of an immense intelligence, which 
makes organs of its activity and receivers of its truth. 

R. W. Emerson. 

I am ever beyond my depth, afloat in an infinite sea; 
but the depth of the sea knows me, for the ocean of my 
being is God. G. MacDonald. 

1. You are eternally related to the Father; you stand for 

some aspects of His wisdom and power which no one 
else can represent as well. 

2. Each one exists within, and yet is not identical with 

Him, so that for each He is personally the Father. 

3. For each He has provided in that wonderful way of 

perfect wisdom, which establishes the limit, sees the 
end, implants the ideal, yet leaves freedom for all to 
think and have experience, freedom to sin; until at 
last in the fulness of time you shall awaken from 
ignorance, learn the wisdom of experience, and 
choose the life of devotion to the highest. 

4. There is no higher ideal to be found as a help in this 

development than the constant realization of the 
Spirit, the recognition of the presence and reality 
of the eternal while still pursuing the pathway of 
temporal life. 

5. A new life, a new world, opens before the mind when 

one turns aside from the hurry and care of daily 
life with the calm realization that in this present 
moment one is a living soul dwelling in the bound¬ 
less realm of the eternal now. 


1-5 H. W. Dresser. 




58 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


February 27th. 

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old 
things are passed away; behold, all things are become 
new. II Cor. 5:17. 

1. New mercies, new blessings, new light on the way; 
New courage, new hope, and new strength for each 

day; 

New notes of thanksgiving, new chords of delight. 
New praise in the morning, new songs in the night. 

2. New stars for the crown, and new tokens of love; 
New gleams of the glory that waits thee above; 

New light of His countenance, full and unpriced; 

All this be the joy of thy new life in Christ. 

F. R. Havergal. 

Take Thou my heart's unwritten page, 

And write Thou on it what is wanted there. 

Michael Angelo. 

1. Rest not a moment and breathe not a breath of repose 

until you become a sign of God’s love and a banner 
of God’s favor. 

2. For the real and great love is the love of God. That 

is holy above the imaginations and thoughts of men. 

3. And the beloved of God must each be the essence of 

purity and holiness; so may they be known by their 
purity, freedom and meekness in every land; 

4. They may drink from the eternal chalice of the love 

of God, enjoy its ecstasy and be joyful, active, aglow 
with zeal and wonderful. 

5. This is the station of the sincere. This is the quality 

of those who are firm. This is the illumination of 
the faces of those who are near. 


1-5 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


59 


February 28th. 

Be sure of one thing: Whatever may befall, God is lead¬ 
ing you to happiness by the easiest road. Anon. 

Be dilated in your heart by the gentle breeze which 
emanates from the garden of eternal life. Be not in 
despair, but rather smile by the mercy of your Lord; 
and be not sorrowful when meeting with worldly difficul¬ 
ties and depressions, for they pass away—and yours shall 
be immortality during ages and centuries, times and 
cycles. Abdul Baha. 

Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our 
king, sing praises. Ps. 47:6. 

1. Be glad of life because it gives you a chance to love 

the true and beautiful and good everywhere; 

2. Because it enables you to develop all that is best in 

you; 

3. Because it reveals the divinity within you and the 

glorious destiny just beyond. 

4. Life is not a judgment to drudgery. It is a glory, a 

dignity, an opportunity, a prelude and a reward. 

5. And “every life can be happy, if it will”; 

6. Sorrow is “a wholly stupid and negative state which no 

one need fall into” . . . ; 

7. For “one has only but to believe in happiness and 

make room for it . . .in order to live in this 
constant exhilaration”. 

8. And “if a man is happy, it is [merely] because he 
dwells in happy thoughts; if miserable, because he 
dwells in despondent and debilitating thoughts”. 

9. Circumstances can only affect [him] in so far as [he] 
allows them to do so. 

1-3 G. Kleiser. 4 M. Hallock. 5-7 L. Whiting. 8-9 James 
Allen. 




60 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 1st. 

Love is our only business here— 

Love, simple, constant and sincere; 

Oh! blessed days Thy servants see. 

Thus spent, O Lord! in pleasing Thee. 

Mme. Guyon. 

Plant only flowers of love in the garden of the heart; 
and withdraw not from clinging to the nightingale of love 
and yearning. Baha'o’llah. 

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye have love one to another. John 13:35. 

Love is perpetual life, the most perfect vitality. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Nothing is worthy the name of religion save one lowly 

offering—love. Heaven’s signet is Love. 

2. It “is the pearl of great price, and its possession in¬ 

cludes all else”. 

3. Love in the life of man radiates in all directions, 

influencing every person who comes in contact with 
it, and changing every condition in life. 

4. Only as we love do we become really conscious of 

living, without love we are dead—dead to a knowl¬ 
edge of God and man; dead to a knowledge of our 
real selves. 

5. Our selfishness, our egoistic impulses, our selfish de¬ 

sires, obscure our true vision of the soul. While all 
begins to clear and life becomes satisfying, “large 
and full of meaning when we lose the thought of 
self and begin to love”. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2-4 C. B. Patterson. 5 R. Tagore and 
C. B. Patterson. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


61 


March 2nd. 

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have 
wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness. 

Zeph. 2:3. 

Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the 
Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God 
in the heavens. Lam. 3:40-41. 

Seek purity of intention, attractive love, insight, dis¬ 
covery of truth and absolute spiritual attitude, and you 
will become entirely free from the physical conditions, 
and will soar to the spiritual realms. 

Turning the face toward God brings healing to the 
body, the mind and the soul. Abdul Baha. 

If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and 
make our abode with him. John 14:23. 

If we would do the things that the Spirit prompts us 
to do, our days would he as our strength, and we would 
run and never be weary, we would walk and would not 
faint. J. Hall. 

1. The heart is a store of Divine mysteries; 

2. Make it not a receptacle for mortal thoughts, and 

consume not the capital of the precious life by 
occupying yourself with the evanescent world. 

3. You are of the world of holiness; attach not your heart 

unto the earthly life. 

4. Set your affection on things above, not on things on 

earth. 


1-3 Baha’o’llah. 4 Col. 




62 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 3d. 

My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I 
have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, 
nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth 
of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and 
forever. Isa. 59:21. 

[Endeavor to he] a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, 
waiting for the Mind of Christ. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Seek a receptive, a childlike spirit; by this you will 
gain true knowledge, which is of the heart. Fenelon. 

1. As a general rule, hold yourself open to every influ¬ 

ence of good; 

2. And give yourself up to the truths that affect you 

and which you feel are nourishing to your heart. 

3. But “take of thought and belief [only] what suits your 

case and take nothing because told to”. 

4. Every soul must independently investigate reality; 

5. He must not emulate or follow blindly the imitations 

of asserters. 

6. He has to strip himself of every worn-out garment of 

old beliefs and past customs. 

7. And has to be always so disposed as to defer to none 

of his friends, but to that reason which, after exami¬ 
nation, appears to him to be the best. 

8. He himself “must decide which is the reasonable, 

rational and most reverent faith, and having de¬ 
cided, hold to it”. 

9. If religion should he contrary to reason and the scien¬ 

tific postulates, it is superstition and unworthy of 
man’s credence. 

1 Anon. 2 Fenelon. 3 P. Mulford. 4-6 Abdul Baha. 7 Soc¬ 
rates. 8 J. F. Clarke. 9 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 63 


March 4th. 

Seek Him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and 
turneth the shadow of death into the morning. 

Amos 5:8. 

At dawn you should be engaged in commemorations, 
seeking for that Beloved One with the utmost earnestness 
and power; consuming heedlessness with the fire or love 
and praise; passing over all else save God with the swift¬ 
ness of lightning. Baha’o’llah. 

When you are plowing the ground or sowing the seeds 
or reaping the harvest, let all your thoughts and subcon¬ 
scious thinking be of God. Your hands and feet will be 
working, but your heart must be attached to the Almighty. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Before all religious meditation we ought to place our¬ 

selves in the presence of God, and to call for His 
help. 

2. Recollect that God is everywhere, and that there is no 

place or thing in the world in which He is not really 
present; 

3. So that as birds in their flight are surrounded by the 

air, so we, wherever we go, are with God: 

4. Everyone knows this truth, but everyone does not 

think about it. 

5. Before prayer we ought always seriously to remind 

our souls of this truth; 

6. Let us say always within ourselves, “Beware, my heart, 

God is here”. 

7. But not only is God in the same place with us, but 

remember that He is in our hearts and in our souls— 
as if He were the heart of our hearts, and the soul 
of our souls. 


1-7 St. Francis de Sales. 




64 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 5th. 

The Lord is gracious and merciful, and will not turn 
away His face from you, if ye return unto Him. 

He forgives all men when they repent. 

Yea, joy shall be before Him in heaven over one sinner 
that repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons 
which need no repentance. 

Even the most unworthy who seeks for salvation is not 
to be forbidden. Chron ., St. Ignatius, Luke and Buddha. 

I create the fruit of the lips; peace, peace to him that 
is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I 
will heal him. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, 
when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 
There is no peace, saith my Lord, to the wicked. 

Isa. 57:19-21. 

1. Repent ye of your iniquities; 

2. Though your sins reach from the earth even unto 

heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet and 
blacker than sackcloth, and ye return unto Him with 
your whole heart and say, Father, He will give ear 
unto you as unto a holy people. 

3. Be ye not afraid, therefore, neither doubt; and let not 

your sins weigh you down, nor your iniquities lift up 
themselves against you. 

4. But believe on God, your Father, ye who by reason of 

your sins have despaired of your life; 

5. For if ye turn unto Him with your whole heart, and 

work righteousness the remaining days of your life, 
He will give healing to your former sins, and ye shall 
have power to master evil. 

1-2 Clement of Alexandria. 3 Esdras. 4-5 St. Hermas. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


65 


March 6th. 

Whatsoever we ask we receive of Him. I John 3:22. 

Call unto the Lord, and He will answer thee. 

Thou shalt call on His name, and He will hear thee; 
He will say, It is my child; and thou shaft say, The 
Lord is my God. 

The healer of all thy troubles is remembrance of Him. 
Seek, therefore, the Lord! for the heart shall live that 
seeketh Him. Blessed are they that seek Him daily; He 
will surely be found of them. 

For He is nigh unto them that turn unto Him, He is 
nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call 
upon Him in truth. 

Jer., Zech., Baha’o’llah, Ps. and Eldad. 

1. Hardly have we opened our hearts in true prayer when 

the tide of inspiration sets in. 

2. For God is always ready; He speaks always; 

3. Whether we catch the rays of His inspiration or not, 

He shines eternally, and sends forth His light in all 
directions. 

4. An ineffable light always comes with more or less 

intensity in response to sincere prayer and is the 
means by which comfort and strength are born in 
upon the soul. 

5. It is the light coming from the Divine Mind, which, 

if we intelligently and persistently turn to it, will 
remove evil from our consciousness as naturally as 
the sun removes darkness from our eyes, when we 
turn from darkness toward the sun. 

1-3 J. Cooke. 4 J. F. Clarke. 5 Anon. 




66 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 7th. 

Fear thou not, 0 Jacob, my servant, saith the Lord, for 
I am with thee. Jer. 46:28. 

1. Fear beyond its proper use is weakening, deadening, 

discouraging and evil. 

2. The life of the spirit is crushed in a man who fears. 

3. For the spirit cannot exist in an atmosphere an¬ 

tagonistic to its own quality. 

4. It is out of its element when plunged in fear, as much 

as a bird would when plunged in water. 

5. It must struggle with all its might to live in a body 

drawn and quartered by fear. 

6. For fear is a torment beyond words and is not in any 

sense spiritual. 

7. Cast out, then, this evil the moment it begins to be 

an evil. 

8. Live day by day, moment by moment, as if nestled 

against God’s very heart; 

9. For there is no moment that you do not lie upon 

that Universal Breast which beats forever with the 
throbs of infinite love. 

10. If you knew God had His arm right around you and 

was speaking the word of victory for you at every 
moment, you would have no fear. 

11. Rest assured this is the absolute fact. 

12. The moment you will lean upon that arm, the mo¬ 

ment you will listen to and obey that voice, that 
moment victory in some form awaits your every 
effort, and fear is needless. 


1-12 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 67 


March 8th. 

Deprive not yourselves of that which is created for you. 
For God did not give us good gifts that we should reject 
them. He created all these blessings that His servants 
may bless him. Baha’o’llah. 

Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts 
be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares 
of this life. Luke 21:34. 

If thou be doubtful whether an action be right or 
wrong, abstain from it altogether. Confucius. 

Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

II Tim. 2:3. 

1. Enjoy pleasant things, look with pleasure upon beau¬ 

tiful things, but without clinging to them, without 
longing to possess them, without holding them 
dearer than God. 

2. The flesh, the senses, the emotions are the instruments 

by which we attain to the understanding of truth. 

3. But they must be kept as instruments, and not allowed 

to become our masters. 

4. Sense indulgence is evil because it keeps the soul away 

from God. 

5. Unless it is held in check progress towards God is quite 

out of the question. 

6. It is difficult to deal with, because sensations remain as 

abstractions in the mind and, though so subtle that 
they can scarcely be recognized, exert an effective 
influence towards their own repetition. 


1-6 Abdul Baha. 




68 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 9th. 

Walk before Me and be thou perfect. Gen. 17:1. 

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the 
end of that man is peace. Ps. 37:37. 

Put your hand out to strong things: employ yourself 
in prayer, meditation, instilling the love of God into 
others, in scattering good feelings over all near you—in 
doing all great and holy works according to your vocation. 

But do not forget your distaff and spindle; do not for¬ 
get to practice the small and lowly virtues which bloom, 
like flowers, at the foot of the cross; do not forget to help 
the poor; to visit the sick, to take care of your household; 
and while you employ yourself in promoting mildness, 
charity and goodwill, lift up your heart on high to Him 
to whom you offer your greatest and all your most trifling 
actions. St. Francis de Sales. 

1. Do not look at your weakness and impotence; nay, 

look at the power of your Lord, which has sur¬ 
rounded all regions. 

2. For the sea of forgiveness has moved and the waves 

of pardon and beneficence have submerged the 
people of sin. 

3. Be isolated from the grades of self and desire, so that 

you may succeed in that which behooves the service 
of the Kingdom of God, and that you may he healed 
from every disease and sickness. 

4. Ask God to make you a new creature so that the lights 

of human perfections may shine through you, and 
to make you kind-hearted unto all human beings so 
that you may be a mercy unto souls, absolute good¬ 
ness to all, a sign of kindness, a word of tenderness. 


1-4 Abdul Bah a. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 69 


March 10 th. 

!• Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and 
let not your heart be depressed. 

2. Put sorrow away from yourselves, for she is the sister 

of doubtfulmindedness and of angry temper. 

3. Clothe yourselves in cheerfulness, which has favor 

with the Lord always, and is acceptable to Him, 
and rejoice in it. 

4. For every cheerful man worketh good and thinketh 

good and despiseth sadness, but the sad man is 
always committing sin. 

5. Therefore cleanse yourselves from all sadness, and 

ye shall live unto God. 

6. Yea, and all they shall live unto God, who shall cast 

away sadness from themselves and clothe them¬ 
selves in all cheerfulness. 

7. For God desires to be served with joy. 

8. We ought not to be discouraged and made sad even in 

our spiritual falls. 

9. Our sadness should at least be moderated by our hope 

of pardon and our confidence in God’s mercy. 

10. Fathers behold the falls of their children rather with 

compassion than anger; God does the same to us. 

11. Let us, therefore, trustfully accept His pardon. And 

let us be frank, innocent and glad with the gladness 
of the Holy Ghost. 

12. Far from us be that sad and fearful stiffness which 

is always teasing itself and holding the scales in 
hand to weigh straws and nothings. 

13. To act with so little openheartedness is to wrong 

Thee, my God. These fears are unworthy of Thy 
fatherly love. 


1 Ps . 2-6 St. Hermas. 7-10 A. Rodriguez. 11-13 Fenelon. 




70 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 11th. 

We can only live by loving, 

And by serving love will grow. Anon. 

One has only to keep love and faith and sweetness in 
his heart toward all, and circumstances and conditions 
will take care of themselves. L. Whiting. 

Love! love! love! and he richer far for the giving; 
Grow each day 
In some good way; 

And life will be worth the living. 

Render to all their dues: Tribute to whom tribute is 
due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor 
to whom honor. Owe no man anything, but to love one 
another; for he that loveth another fulfilleth the law. 

Rom. 13:7-8. 

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would 
borrow of thee, turn not thou away. Matt. 5:42. 

1. Let us have love and more love. 

2. A love that melts all opposition, a love that conquers 

all foes, a love that sweeps away all barriers, a love 
that aboundeth in charity, large-heartedness, toler¬ 
ance and noble-striving, a love that triumphs over 
all obstacles—a boundless, resistless, sweeping love. 

3. Each one must be a sign of love, a sea of love, a center 

of love, a sun of love, a star of love, a haven of love, 
a pearl of love, a palace of love, a mountain of love, 
a world of love, a universe of love. 


1-3 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


71 


March 12th. 

This is life eternal that they might know Thee, the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. 

John 17:3. 

For those who helieve in God, who have love of God 
and faith, life is excellent—that is, it is eternal. 

Abdul Baha. 

Why not find out how simple a life episode death is, 
and help the race to overcome its hideous fear of this 
bugaboo? That is all it is; there is really no such thing— 
just life—and then more life. Anon. 

Death “is a natural process, like birth, and like birth is 
an unconscious one. Being unconscious, it is painless and 
utterly devoid of fear, and being natural, goes on of its 
own accord without help or hindrance of the person”. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: 
for He shall receive me. Ps. 49:15. 

1. You make death an impenetrable fog, while it is a 

mere golden mist, torn easily aside by the shafts of 
faith and revealing life as not only continuous but 
as not cut in two by a great change. 

2. It is like leaving a prison for freedom and happiness. 

3. It is, indeed, not “death at all, nor separation, nor any¬ 

thing but beauty and greater love and wider oppor¬ 
tunity and higher ideals to live to”. 

4. It certainly is not to be feared. 

5. And “the attendant pain, if any, can be lessened by 

spiritual preparation for the change”. 

1-2 B. King. 3 M. Cameron. 5 M. B. Wallace. 




72 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 13th. 

When I fall I shall arise; when I sit in darkness the 
Lord shall be a light unto me. I will hear the indignation 
of the Lord because I have sinned against Him. 

Micah 7:8-9. 

Divine Love is never so near as when all earthly joys 
seem most afar. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Adore, praise and bless God in everything; see in all 
things His paternal hand. 

Where is there room for any evil, when even the most 
terrible that can come upon us works together for good? 

Can the suffering that God designs to purify us and 
make us worthy of Himself be called an evil? Fenelon. 

1. Take courage and turn your troubles, which are with¬ 

out remedy, into material for spiritual progress. 

2. Often turn to your Lord, who is watching you, poor, 

frail, little being as you are, amid your labors and 
distractions. 

3. He sends you help, and blesses your affliction. 

4. This thought should enable you to bear your trouble 

patiently and gently for love of Him who only allows 
you to be tried for your own good. 

5. Raise your heart continually to Him, seek His aid, and 

let the foundation stone of your consolation be your 
happiness of being His. 

6. All vexations and annoyances will be comparatively 

unimportant while you know that you have such a 
Friend, such a Stay, such a Refuge. 


1-6 St. Francis de Sales. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


73 


March 14th. 

1. Let your whole care be to serve God in the present 

moment, being anxious for nothing. 

2. Deal with a fruitless anxiety just as you would deal 

with an impure or resentful notion of the heart. 
Shut the door on it at once, and with one or two 
short prayers rouse the will and turn the thoughts 
in a different direction. 

3. Having made known your wishes to God in prayer, and 

begged Him to deal in the matter, not according to 
your short-sighted views, but as seems best to His 
wisdom and love, leave it with Him. 

4. If prudence and caution dictate that anything should 

be done to avert the evil you anticipate, or bring 
the blessing you desire, do it, and then think no 
more of the subject. 

5. So when watching by the sickbed of a loved one, do 

everything in your power to arrest the sickness and 
fear not. 

6. Whichever the result, if you are truly in harmony 

with God’s will, and offer no resistance of fear, 
doubt, distrust, you may be sure Almighty goodness 
will see to it that the best and only the best for all 
concerned shall come out of the experience. 

7. Trusting in God, doing your utmost, fearless, because 

sure that God permits no evil to His children, your 
spirit will breathe over the patient its own vitality 
and vigor. 

8. Your very atmosphere will breed life in the diseased 

body, by contact, of strength, of purity, faith, power, 
and out of the very calmness and surety of your 
soul your loved one may be saved. 

1-4 E. M. Goulburn. 5-8 Cora Linn Daniels. 




74 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 15th. 

Our salvation is of the Lord: He is our strength in the 
time of trouble. Ps. 37:39. 

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, 
even the Most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil 
befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy 
dwelling. 

For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep 
thee in all thy ways. 

Indeed, a good Lord is God, and a good help. 

His mercy is great above the heavens: and His truth 
reacheth unto the clouds. 

The earth is full of His goodness; and His loving-kind¬ 
ness is before our eyes forever. Ps., Koran and Ps. 

1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence 

cometh my help. 

2. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven 

and earth. 

3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. 

4. He that keepeth thee will not slumber. 

5. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber 

nor sleep. 

6. The Lord is thy keeper: 

7. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 

8. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon 

by night. 

9. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. 

10. He shall preserve thy soul. 

11. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy com¬ 

ing in from this time forth and even for evermore. 
1-11 Ps . 121. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 75 


March 16th. 

!• Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall 
strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say, on the Lord! 

2. A child of God has nothing to fear. 

3. According to our needs will God give us strength to 

bear our burdens, and He will hold us by the hand, 
and guide us all the way to peace, if only we trust. 

4. And with every burden He adds a blessing, and makes 

life richer, fuller, deeper, better for all our expe¬ 
riences. 

5. He never takes anything from us without giving us 

something to bless us in return, for He loves us, 
and He knows best what we need. 

6. 0, for a deeper, fuller trust in Him who made us, 

who keeps us, who loves us beyond our compre¬ 
hension. 

7. We should never doubt His love for us, for more than 

fond parents love their little ones He cared for 
us all the time. How can we doubt His love and 
wisdom? 

8. Therefore “cease your complaints, your griefs and be 

still and know God”. 

9. The secret of the finding of true joy is in realizing 

the present. 

10. The past is gone, bury it; the future is a mystery, 

and much of it depends on how you appreciate 
the present. 

11. Think of what mistakes you have made in the past 

only to avoid them [in the future]. Do your best 
to-day, and to-morrow will take care of itself. 

12. Be kind, helpful, active, trustful, loving and your life 

will be a success and a blessing. 


1 Ps . 3-12 W. Thayer. 




76 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 17 th. 

“There is nothing fortuitous, either in the career of an 
individual or in the destiny of a nation. Each soul fareth 
forward upon a path which, although obscured to the 
soul, is brightly illumined” from the eternal standpoint. 

M. B. Wallace. 

1. Commit all your affairs to God, so that you may be a 

calm, approved and pleasing soul before God. 

2. The whole of your affairs—trivial as well as great, 

irregular as well as in the ordinary course—are 
under His absolute, daily, hourly supervision and 
control. 

3. Nothing can possibly arise to you or any other which 

is not foreseen by Him, brought by Him within the 
circle of His great plan. 

4. The little incidents of each day, as well as the solemn 

crises of life, are His ordering, the occurrences of 
each day, however unlooked for, however contrary 
to expectation, are God-sent, and those which affect 
you, sent specially and with discrimination to your¬ 
self. 

5. Now, all God asks of you is absolute confidence, and 

“all will be well, if you take the great step which 
many find so hard—if you trust God, trust the Spirit 
—if you deny yourself”. 

6. Consciously, distinctly, resolutely, habitually, you need 

to give yourself, your business, your interests, your 
family, your affections into the Spirit’s hands, to 
lead and fashion you as He will. 

7. When you work with the current of that Divine Will, 

all is vital, efficient and fruitful. 

1 Abdul Baha. 2-4 E. M. Goulburn. 5 H. W. Dresser. 6-7 
F. D. Huntington. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


77 


March 18th. 

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanks¬ 
giving. Col. 4:2. 

If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything 
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father 
which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 

Matt. 18:19-20. 

What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe 
that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 

Mark 11:24. 

Shall we plead for more at the open fount, which is 
pouring forth more than we accept? 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search 
for Me with all your heart. Jer. 29:13. 

Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God 
afar off? Jer. 23:23. 

The spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not 
what we should pray for as we ought: but the spirit itself 
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot 
be uttered. And He that seareheth the hearts knoweth 
what is the mind of the spirit, because he maketh inter¬ 
cession for the saints according to the will of God. And 
we know that all things work together for good to them 
that love God. Rom. 8:26-28. 

When man invokes God’s favor at the Divine threshold, 
his mind becomes open, he enters into spiritual pleasures 
and makes discoveries. By this he enjoys ecstasies of the 
spirit, and sees the world illumined. He is filled with 
insight; he becomes fully attuned to the bounties of God 
and sees them face to face. Abdul Baha. 




78 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 19 th. 

A faithful man shall abound with blessings. 

Prov. 27:20. 

O that thou hadst harkened to my commandments! 
Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness 
as the waves of the sea. Isa. 48:18. 

Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in 
peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. 

II Cor. 13:11. 

The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but right¬ 
eousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he 
that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, 
and approved of men. Rom. 14:17-18. 

Goodness and eternal life are joy in themselves. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

The light of God is verily shining in the face of the 
man who is of the Kingdom, spiritual, heavenly, divine. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the King¬ 

dom of heaven. 

2. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be com¬ 

forted. 

3. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

4. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after 

righteousness: for they shall be filled. 

5. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

6. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 

7. Blessed are the peace makers: for they shall be called 

the children of God. 

8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteous¬ 

ness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 


1-8 Matt . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


79 


March 20th. 

They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Ps. 22:26. 

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 

Yea, let all those that seek Him rejoice and be glad in 
Him. 

And let such as love His salvation say continually, 4 The 
Lord be magnified!’ 

For in His presence is fulness of joy; at His right hand 
there are pleasures for evermore. Chron. and Ps. 

It is our privilege and our duty to be supremely happy, 
forever young in spirit. H. W. Dresser. 

1. No soul can prosper without joy. 

2. We have to learn to believe in the permanence of 

nothing but life and joy, and to perceive that the 
only times when we are not advancing are the times 
when we linger morbidly in sadness, or childishly in 
satisfaction. 

3. If we have lost the joy, it is because we have not taken 

possession of our kingdom of love; and the passion 
and wonder of it have not taken possession of us. 

4. If we are living under a leaden sky, it is because our 

faith is not flowering out in the sunshine of God’s 
love, radiant with the joy of possessing that love. 

5. Doubt is the disease of thought, and is twin-sister of 

fear. 

6. If we realize that Love is the heart of the universe and 

the center of life, fear of all kinds must depart. 

7. If we accept that Love, if we apply it to every need, if 

we live in it, where is there room for fear? 

1 Cora Linn Daniels. 2 A. C. Benson. 3-7 H. Black. 




80 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 21st. 

Let brotherly love continue. Heb. 13:1. 

By love serve one another. Gal. 5:13. 

All else but love is merely outwardly uttered words. 

Abdul Baha. 

Become incarnations of love and embodiments of spirit 
and personifications of kindness. Abdul Baha. 

Put on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, 
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering: 

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if 
any man have a quarrel against any: 

Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 

But above all things put on love, which is the bond of 
perfectness. 

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the 
which also ye are called in one body. Col. 3:12-15. 

1. Never shall you have peace as long as your mind is 

stayed on your own dear self. 

2. But when you give up self, then the peace of God will 

be yours. 

3. The whole religion of life may be summed up in two 

words: love and service. One is an inner condition 
of being, and the other is the outer expression in 
action. 

4. If one can realize the spirit of love within him so that 

the whole life is dominated by it, he has found the 
pearl of great price, . . . the solution of every 
problem. 

1 D. L. Moody. 3-4 C. B. Patterson. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


81 


March 22nd. 

We have known and believed the love that God hath 
to us. 

God is Love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in 
God, and God in him. I John 4:16. 

“God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask, higher we 
cannot look, farther we cannot go.. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

The foundation principle of the world is Love and the 
happiness of everyone is in the long run absolutely cer¬ 
tain. R. M. Buke. 

1. Love! What a word! I am in awe before it. Over 

what worlds on worlds it hath range and is sovereign! 

2. The underived, the incomparable, the infinite All of 

good, the alone God, is Love. 

3. And we are submerged in the sea of His favor and 

love—physically and spiritually. 

4. His favors compass us from all directions. 

5. No human creature is an orphan, but there is a Father, 

who always and without intermission, takes care 
of all. 

6. He, the Father, loves them as His children. 

7. This thought breaks the blow of calamity, spreads lines 

of beauty over many a ghastly spot of existence, 
discloses friendly intents in untoward circumstances, 
and drops healing ingredients into the bitterest cups. 

8. And to feel that in the severest sorrow we can sink 

into a Presence full of love and sympathy deeper 
than ever breathed from earth or sky or loving 
hearts—a presence in which all fears and anxieties 
melt away as ice-crystals in the warm ocean, this is 
heaven. 

1-2 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 3-4 Abdul Baha. 5 Epictetus. 7 
J. Cooke. 8 J. Thomson. 




82 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 23d. 

The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. 

II Thess. 3:5. 

When we learn God aright, we love Him, because He is 
found altogether lovely. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

When the love of God is established, everything else 
will be realized. Abdul Baha. 

Our heart ever changes its place till it finds love, and 
then it has rest. R. Tagore. 

An effort is needed to attain to love; you have to exer¬ 
cise yourself in search of God, and have to make an 
endeavor so that you may taste of the honey of union 
with Him. If you drink of this cup you shall forget the 
whole world. Baha’o’llah. 

Do you suppose that without the help of His Spirit one 
can wish to love Him, fear lest one does not, abhor one’s 
own sins? Fenelon. 

Do for His sake deeds of love, and He will give you His 
love. Still yourself, your own cares, your own thoughts 
for Him, and He will speak to your heart. E. B. Pusey. 

1. Love, love, and remember that you have been loved 

before loving. 

2. Love, indeed, is not silent, but cries continually, ‘Love 

thou Love!’ 

3. While Truth says, ‘Love! Abide in Love’s shadow, let 

all else pass on.’ 

4. Forgetting all else save Him, be comforted by the 

Spirit [who is love]. 

1 St. Catherine of Siena. 2 J. Ruysbroeck. 3 Euwar. 4 
Baha’o’llah. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


83 


March 24th. 

1. God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide 

even unto death. He is our hope in the day of evil. 

2. He is familiar with every route that is trodden by 

human feet from the cradle to the grave, and we 
cannot reach a point beyond the power of Love to 
come to our rescue. 

3. Why then should we be worried and anxious? 

4. May be, some fear haunts us. We are afraid of falling 

into something that will hurt us, or somebody else. 

5. Suppose now that we just let ourselves fall. Rest a 

while by saying, 4 I have no concern about what hap¬ 
pens. I am not anxious.’ It will be well for us to 
try falling for a time. We have been on such a 
strain, trying to hold ourselves up, to keep from 
falling. 

6. Let us now yield, give up the strain, fall. What then? 

Where is there to fall but into God? When we let 
go we shall feel His strong arms all about us. All 
threats of what may happen to us will he proved 
powerless when we give up resistance. Let come 
what will, for only God can come! 

7. We know not where His islands lift 

Their fronded palms in air; 

We only know we cannot drift 
Beyond His love and care. 

8. In the supremest moments of human life it is He who 

stands by us, not we by our faith in Him, and we 
would fain doubt Him, if we could; hut we never 
quite persuade ourselves that He will fail to fulfill 
every earnest desire and justify all the conditions 
in which we have been placed. 

Ps . and Jer. 2 Magazine of Mysteries. 7 J. G. Whittier. 8 H. 
W. Dresser. 




84 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 25th. 

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all 
men unto me. John 12:32. 

Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye 
through his poverty might be rich. II Cor. 8:9. 

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, 
not imputing their trespasses unto them. II Cor. 5:19. 

Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the 
unjust, that he might bring us to God. I Pet. 3:18. 

Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy 
blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and 
nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and 
priests. Rev. 5:9-10. 

He died for all, that they which live should not hence¬ 
forth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for 
them and rose again. II Cor. 5:15. 

1. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor¬ 

rows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of 
God and afflicted. 

2. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 

bruised for our iniquities: 

3. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with 

his stripes we are healed. 

4. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned 

every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on 
him the iniquity of us all. 


1-4 Isa . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


85 


March 26th. 

Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Acts 8:21. 

You have not, as it were, forsaken Me, but your own 
selves, saith the Lord. Esdras. 

I tremble and I burn: I tremble, feeling that I am 
unlike Him; I burn, feeling that I am like Him. 

St. Augustine. 

God’s voice is no foreign accent: He is in the soul, as 
the soul is in the body,—a something which we cannot 
distinguish from ourselves, yet which we are conscious is 
leading, restraining, controlling us. Fenelon. 

No soul strives and searches and loves without the 
Father. Though we deny and doubt Him, He is ever here, 
near to our hearts even when we spurn Him. 

H. W. Dresser. 


1. God has created you rich: 

2. Why do you make yourself poor? 

3. Noble has He made you: 

4. Why do you degrade yourself? 

5. Of the essence of knowledge has He manifested you: 

6. Why do you search for another than Him? 

7. From the clay of love has He kneaded you: 

8. Why do you seek another? 

9. Turn your sight unto yourself, that you may find Him 

standing within you, powerful, mighty and supreme. 


1-9 Baha’o’llah. 




86 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 27th. 

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 

Ps. 101:2. 

The heart of a man changeth his countenance, whether 
it be for good or for evil. Ecclesiasticus. 

Every right action and true thought sets the seal of its 
beauty on person and face. J. Ruskin. 

You conquer fate by thought. The consequences of 
thinking inevitably follow. T. Carlyle. 

As thou wouldst be ashamed to let thy tongue run all 
day, and say: T cannot stop it,’ so shouldst thou be 
ashamed to let thy thoughts run at random, or on hurtful 
things, and say: 4 I cannot help it.’ R. Baxter. 

1. Thought of any kind is a power. 

2. Beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of 

grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and 
sunny circumstances. 

3. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he 

can choose his thoughts and so indirectly, yet surely, 
shape his circumstances. 

4. And “every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into 

the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, 
blossoming sooner or later into act”. 

5. Hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, 

and the true, and you will bring these into your 
experience proportionably to their occupancy of 
your thoughts. 

1 Cora Linn Daniels. 2-4 J. Allen. 5 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


87 


March 28th. 

The Lord made us this soul. Jer. 38:16. 

The soul cannot move, wake, or open the eyes without 
perceiving God. We perceive God through the soul as 
we feel air on the body. We can know God easily so long 
as we do not feel it necessary to define Him. J. Joubert. 

Cease the contemplation of your own finite selves, and 
fix your eyes upon regnant Reality. Then will the soul 
come into the full nature of the divine power of the spirit 
and receive the blessing of infinite bounty. 

Abdul Baha. 

Our daily worship of God is not really the process of 
gradual acquisition of Him, but the daily process of sur¬ 
rendering ourselves, removing all obstacles to union and 
extending our consciousness of Him in devotion and ser¬ 
vice, in goodness and love. R. Tagore. 

1. We must always strive to have a heart clear and pure, 

so that the light of the Spirit may be reflected from 
it in all its fulness; that God may manifest and make 
apparent the signs of His Oneness, which have been 
deposited in all the realities of life; and that He 
may free us from the fetters of material being. 

2. Verily, if our hearts are open to the light of His Spirit, 

if we are expanding with its life, growing pure in 
the presence of its love, it will gradually and har¬ 
moniously transform our whole being, overcome and 
transmute all that is not brought into subjection, 
and lift our finite life to the exalted plane of wise 
obedience to the perfect will of the Infinite. 

1 Abdul Baha. 2 H. W. Dresser. 




88 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 29th. 

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. 

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. 

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
vain. 

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 

Honour thy father and thy mother. 

Thou shalt not kill. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

Thou shalt not steal. 

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 
Thou shalt not covet. Ex. 20:3-17. 

This is the sum of all true righteousness:— 

Treat others as thou wouldst thyself be treated, 

Do nothing to thy neighbor which hereafter 
Thou wouldst not have thy neighbor do to thee. 

In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, 

In doing good or injury to others, 

In granting or refusing a request, 

A man attains a proper rule of action 
By looking on his neighbor as himself. 

Maha-bharata. 

Where have I been? In what have I transgress’d? 
What good or ill has this day’s life express’d? 

Where have I fail’d in what I ought to do? 

In what to God, to man or to myself I owe? 

Inquire severe whate’er from first to last, 

From morning’s dawn till ev’ning’s gloom has past. 

If evil were thy deeds, repenting mourn. 

And let thy soul with strong remorse be torn. 

If good, the good with peace of mind repay. 

And to thy secret self with pleasure say. 

Rejoice, my heart, for all went well to-day. 

Pythagoras. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


89 


March 30th. 

1. Give yourself up to God; 

2. Never give ear to your own imaginations; hearken 

solely to the Spirit of grace. 

3. Live by faith only. 

4. Implicit faith will do more for [you] than reasoning. 

5. It is by faith and trust that you must live. 

6. It is by faith and not by sight that you must walk. 

7. For faith is our light in the darkness of the night of 

this world. 

8. Faith is necessary or you will be shaken within your¬ 

self by every tide of thought that you touch on. 

9. Faith renders the spirit strong. 

10. Doubt and unbelief are the destroyers. 

11. Have faith, therefore. Believe and receive. 

12. Expect all, and all will he given you; God and His 

peace will be with you. 

13. If you put no limit to what you expect of Him, it will 

he to you according to your faith. 

14. Faith is an act of will, a moral venture. 

15. No man can omit this initial step; 

16. And no man who has thus given his will to God has 

ever felt himself permanently bewildered or for¬ 
saken. 

17. For faith is the magnet which draws the confirmation 

of the Lord. 

1-3 J. Chevreuse. 4 0. S. Marden. 5 Anon. 6 Cor . 7 St. 
Julian of Norwich. 8 M. C. 9-10 Paracelsus. 11 Anon. 
12-13 Fenelon. 14-16 K. Hilty. 17 Abdul Baha. 




90 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


March 31st. 

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive 
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

And our sins are forgiven and we are pardoned if we are 
sick of our sins, whether we know we are pardoned or not. 

But as God forgives our sins after we repent, right so 
wills He that we forgive our sins, as anent our useless 
heaviness and our doubtful dreads. 

St. John, L. Abbott and St. Julian of Norwich. 

1. Seek the Lord, because He may be found; call upon 

Him, for He is near: 

2. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 

man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, 
and He will have mercy upon him: and to our God, 
for He will abundantly pardon. 

3. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 

your ways My ways, saith the Lord. 

4. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are 

My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts 
than your thoughts. 

5. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from 

heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the 
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it 
may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 

6. So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: 

7. It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accom¬ 

plish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the 
thing whereto I send it. 

8. For ye shall go out with joy, and be let forth with 

peace. 

1-8 Isa. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 91 


April 1st . 

All we need to do from moment to moment is to be true 
to the best we know. H. W. Dresser. 

True sacrifice is making holy every possession, each 
thought and deed. Baha’o’llah. 

Search me, 0 God, and know my heart: try me and 
know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in 
me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps. 139:23-34. 

All are content in simply growing as God wills, and the 
joy of every step and every condition, each after its own 
kind, is a crescendo of multiplied sensations and pleasures. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. As much as you can, do perfectly that which you do; 

but when it is done do not think any more about it; 
think of what is to be done next. 

2. Walk simply with the cross of our Lord, and do not 

torment your mind. 

3. Hate your defects; but with a tranquil and peaceful 

hatred, not with a troubled and distempered hatred. 

4. We ought to have patience when we see them, and 

derive from them the profit of a holy abasement of 
ourselves. 

5. Do not lose courage; God will hold you with His hand. 

6. What we have done up to the present time is good, but 

what we are about to begin shall be better; and 
when we shall have finished we will recommence 
something else which shall be still better. 


1-6 St. Francis de Sales. 





92 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 2nd. 

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed 
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. 

I John 3:1. 

I am Thine, save me. Ps. 119:94. 

Practise daily the effort of holding the thoughts: “1 am 
a child of God, made in His image and likeness. I have 
no will but His. I am spiritual and do not live in or for 
the material. I do not yield to error. The greatest error 
is to doubt God.” ... I can and do rest in the Lord. 

F. Seward. 

1. What we have to learn is, to realize in our own way 

that we live with God; that God lives in us; 

2. That He is completing us, moving upon us through the 

forces, the events, the world in which He resides, 
through our weaker nature, our faults, through the 
conflicts which we have so long misinterpreted, 
through pain, through happiness, and all that con¬ 
stitutes experience; 

3. That we have no power wholly our own, but that we 

use and are used by Divine power; 

4. That we are equal to any task, any emergency, any 

struggle, for God is here. 

5. Help is near; we need not go anywhere for it. It is 

omnipresent. It abounds. 

6. It comes to us in proportion to our receptivity to it, 

our faith in it, our happiness, our hope, our patience. 


L-6 H. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


93 


April 3d. 

Do not worry yourself; for all worry hurts the judg¬ 
ment and hinders us from doing well the very things for 
which we worry ourselves. Never was anything well done 
which was done with hurry and worry. We always do 
things soon enough when we do them well. 

Therefore do not hurry; have faith! 

St. Frances de Sales and W. Carpenter. 

Do not worry as to when and how things will come. 
Your part is to put all your faith and trust in the One life 
that lives through you and go straight ahead according to 
the best light you have. 

Do, indeed, “all that true fear demands, in the way of 
precautionary measures”. But “if you then utterly drop 
fear, you become calm, quiet, cool, brave, strong, power¬ 
ful, influential and a force”. 

E. Towne and Cora Linn Daniels. 

Like the cellar-growing vine is the man who lives in the 
darkness and bondage of fear; but he that goes forth, 
with the liberty of God, into the light of love, faith and 
hope, will be like the plant in the field, healthy, robust 
and joyful. H. W. Beecher. 

No longer forward nor behind, 

I look in hope or fear. 

But grateful take the good I find, 

The best in now and here. J. G. Whittier. 

As then the tulip for her morning sup 
Of heav’nly vintage from the soil looks up, 

Do you devoutly do the like, till heav’n 
To earth invert you—like an empty cup. 

Omar Khayyam. 




94 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 4th. 

She hath done what she could. Mark 14:8. 

We are all capable of more than we do. 

We live far within our limits. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy and W. James. 

Do not allow the opportunity to fall from your grasp. 

Baha’o’llah. 

Nothing will produce results save intense sincerity. 
Nothing will be productive of fruit save complete ad¬ 
vancement toward God. Abdul Baha. 

1. Whatever your hand findeth to do. do it with your 

might. 

2. Whatever it is, throw your whole soul into it . . . ; 

make every thought, word and deed count. 

3. Your soul must be made to set its whole and sole 

attention on what it wishes to accomplish. 

4. One cannot scatter his fire, and at the same time hit 

the mark. 

5. And there is no time for trifling, for in the Kingdom 

of God there are no trivial things. 

6. It calls for faithfulness in all things, and for all your 

capacity and power. 

7. Be alert and act! 

8. Deeds reveal the station of man. 

9. Every moment’s vast importance 
Should compel your earnest thought, 

Should record a worthy something 
You have done. 

1 Eccles. 2 C. B. Patterson. 4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 8 Baha’¬ 
o’llah. 9 Anon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


95 


April 5th. 

My beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much 
as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 

I Cor. 15:58. 

Your hearts must he illumined, your souls must be 
rejoiced with the Glad-Tidings of God, your morals must 
be spiritual morals, your conduct must be an evidence of 
faith. Abdul Baha. 

The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peace¬ 
able, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and 
good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy; 
and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace to them 
that make peace. Jas. 3:17. 

Unto you that fear My name shall the sun of righteous¬ 
ness arise with healing in his wings. Mai. 4:2. 

1. Keep your eyes lifted up to God. 

2. Make your spirits perpetually the master of your in¬ 

clinations and humors. 

3. Never allow apprehensions to enter into your heart. 

4. Try to “rejoice in this world to see and feel its beauty”. 

5. To let the heart open in gratitude as naturally as the 

flowers blossom. 

6. To stand ready to serve in even the humblest way. 

7. To rise above petty annoyances and to be calm. 

8. To trust God amid the hardest trials, to find life sweet 

amid the deepest sorrows. 

9. And have faith in the power of love to conquer even 

enmity, sin and death. 

1-3 St. Francis de Sales. 4-9 J. Johonnot. 




96 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 6th. 

Walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruit¬ 
ful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge 
of God; strengthened with all might, according to His 
glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with 
joyfulness. 

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us 
meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
light. 

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and 
hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: in 
whom we have redemption through his blood, even the 
forgiveness of sins. Col. 1:10-13. 

1. I count all things but loss for the excellency of the 

knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord: 

2. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and 

do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and 
be found in him; 

3. That I may know Him, and the power of His resur¬ 

rection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being 
made conformable unto His death; if by any means 
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 

4. Not as though I had already attained, either were 

already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may 
apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of 
Christ Jesus. 

5. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but 

this one thing I do, forgetting those things which 
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things 
which are before, I press toward the mark for the 
price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 


1-5 Phil. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


97 


April 7th. 

The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one 
toward another, and toward all men. I Thess. 3:12-13. 

Let us be good one towards another according to the 
compassion and sweetness of Him that made us. 

Clement of Alexandria. 

1. The Divine table is spread, the heavenly illumination 

is all-encircling; eternal life is provided for all. 

2. Therefore let us practice the Divine essence of love 

and love each other from our very hearts and souls. 

3. The practice of religion involves as a first principle 

a loving, compassionate heart for all men, yea, for 
all creatures. 

4. Therefore, under all circumstances, whether in ad¬ 

versity or comfort, in glory or affliction, let us show 
forth love and affection, compassion and union. 

5. For only that life is godly which abounds in affection 

and love. 

6. Such a life is blessed and rich. 

7. For to love abundantly is to live abundantly. 

8. And the true healing of the soul is always through 

the birth of love. 

9. Infinite tenderness enfolds and cherishes the uni¬ 

verse; therefore is the wise man gentle and kind, 
childlike and tenderhearted. 

10. He sees that the one thing which all creatures need 

is love [and kindness], and he gives it unstintingly. 

11. For God has created all; all are the children of God; 

God provides for all; God rears and nurtures all; 
God is kind to all. Why should we be unkind? 

1-2 Abdul Baha. 3 Buddha. 4 Baha’o’llah. 7 Anon. 8 T. 
Traherne. 9-10 James Allen. 11 Abdul Baha. 




98 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 8th. 

Joy should be sedulously cultivated as one of the first 
among Christian virtues. F. E. B. Donaldson. 

When a man turns his face to God, he sees sunshine 
everywhere. Abdul Baha. 

Only wait, only endure, only believe, and a sweetness, a 
beauty, a truth beyond your utmost dreams shall be 
revealed. A. C. Benson. 

Let us live happily, then, not hating those who hate us. 
Let us live happily, then, free from ailments among the 
ailing. Let us live happily, then, free from greed among 
the greedy. Let us live happily, then; though calling 
nothing our own, we shall be as angels feeding on hap¬ 
piness. Buddha. 

There is something profoundly unhealthy in our 
thought if any trouble whatever leads us to suppress this 
happy tendency, if the song of our souls does not remain 
as long as we remain. 

1. We should he more rejoicing in His whole love than 

sorrowing in our often fallings. 

2. For it is the most worship to Him of anything we do, 

that we live gladly and merrily for His love in our 
penance. 

3. For He beholdeth us so tenderly that He seeth all our 

living penance. 

4. Nature’s longing is our natural penance—the highest, 

as to my sight. 


1-4 St. Julian of Norwich. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


99 


April 9th. 

1. All ye people, clap your hands; shout unto God with 

the voice of triumph, and rejoice in the Lord. 

2. Yea, let all those that put their trust in Him rejoice. 

3. Let them ever shout for joy, because He defendeth 

them. 

4. Let them also that love His name be joyful in Him. 

5. Neither let them be sorry; for the joy of the Lord is 

their strength. 

6. Verily, blessed is the people that know the joyful 

sound; they shall walk, 0 Lord, in the light of Thy 
countenance. 

7. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day. 

8. And in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 

9. For Thou art the glory of their strength; 

10. And in Thy favor their horn shall be exalted. 

11. My soul also shall be joyful in the Lord: 

12. It shall rejoice in His salvation. 

13. I will be glad and rejoice in Him. 

14. Yea, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; 

15. My soul shall be joyful in my God. 

16. For He hath clothed me with the garments of sal¬ 

vation. 

17. He hath put gladness in my heart, more than in the 

time that their corn and their wine increased. 

18. And although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither 

shall fruit be in the vines; 

19. The labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall 

yield no meat; 

20. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there 

shall be no herd in the stalls: 

21. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; 

22. I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

1-4 Ps. 5 Neh. 6-13 Ps. 14-16 Isa. 17 Ps. 18-22 Hab. 




100 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 10th. 

If the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an 
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying 
of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, 
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without 
spot to God, purge our conscience from dead works to 
serve the living God. Heb. 9:13-14. 

1. God who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith 

He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised 
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly 
places in Christ Jesus. 

2. That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding 

riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in 
Christ Jesus. 

3. For by grace are we saved through faith, and that not 

of ourselves: it is the gift of God: 

4. Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

5. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, dis¬ 

obedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleas¬ 
ures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating 
one another. 

6. But after that the kindness and love of God our Sav¬ 

iour toward man appeared; 

7. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, 

but according to His mercy He saved us, by the 
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost; 

8. Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ 

our Saviour; 

9. That being justified by His grace, we should be made 

heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 


1-4 Eph. 5-8 Tit. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


101 


April 11th. 

The Universe is a living and loving Presence and every¬ 
thing works for the good and joy of each and all of us. 

E. Towne. 

1. Universal Love is the law above all other laws. 

2. There are no truths and no laws which are not founded 

in and conserved wholly of love. 

3. Love rules everything, wisdom guides everything. 

4. Love and God are the same: 

5. God is Love, yea, all love, and so all love that nothing 

but love can come from Him. 

6. He is the blesser of every created thing; nothing but 

blessing, goodness and happiness comes from Him 
because He has in Himself nothing else to give. 

7. His creation has not its source in any necessity; it 

comes from His fulness of joy; it is His love that 
creates; therefore in creation is His own revealment. 
9. And to know that Love alone was the beginning of 
nature and creature, that nothing but Love encom¬ 
passes the whole universe of things; that the gov¬ 
erning Hand that overrules all, is nothing but 
omnipotent and omniscient Love, using an infinity 
of wisdom, to save every misguided creature from 
the miserable works of its own hands, and make 
happiness and glory the perpetual inheritance of all 
the creation, is a reflection that must be quite ravish¬ 
ing to every intelligent creature that is sensible of it. 

2-3 Cora Linn Daniels. 4 W. T. Stead. 5-6 W. Law. 7 R. 
Tagore. 8 W. Law. 




102 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 12th. 

1. Let the Lord appear before my sight as the first of 

all lights and all forms. The first thrill of joy 
to my awakened soul let it come from His glance. 
And let my return to myself be immediate return 
to Him. 

2. While outwardly busy let me be occupied with Him 

more than with anything else. And let me not 
count that I have lived that day, in which I have 
not lived with Him. 

3. For vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, except to 

love Him, and to serve Him only. 

4. Let nothing be great unto me, nothing high, nothing 

pleasing, nothing acceptable, hut only God Him¬ 
self, or that which is of God. He alone is everlast¬ 
ing, and of infinite greatness, filling all creatures, 
the soul’s solace, and the true joy of the heart. 

5. Cause me, O Lord, to attain to the sweetness of 

beholding Thy beauty, for as much as this is the 
utmost wish, the mightiest gift and the greatest 
bestowal. 

6. Take away whatever is in me that is satisfied with 

less than Thyself. Take away my own self. 

7. Let only that little be left of me whereby I may name 

Thee my all. Let only that little be left of my will 
whereby I may feel Thee on every side, and come 
to Thee in everything, and offer to Thee my love 
every moment. 

8. Let only that little be left of me whereby I may never 

hide Thee. Let only that little of my fetters be left 
whereby I am bound with Thy will, and Thy pur¬ 
pose is carried out in my life—and that is the 
fetter of Thy love. 

1 R. Tagore. 2 Fenelon and R. Fuller. 3-4 Thomas a Kempis. 
5 Abdul Baha. 7-8 R. Tagore. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


103 


April 13th. 

In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. 

Prov. 14:26. 

O Lord, be gracious unto me; I have waited for Thee: 
Be Thou my arm every morning, my salvation also in the 
time of trouble. Isa. 33:2. 

1. Since Love took over the care of everything, you 

should not take care of anything, nor let any 
thought of the morrow disturb your mind. 

2. Do not look forward to the changes and chances of 

this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope 
that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver 
you out of them. 

3. He has kept you hitherto,—do you but hold fast to 

His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through 
all things; and, when you cannot stand, He will 
hear you in His arms. 

4. Do not look forward to what may happen to-morrow; 

the same everlasting Father who cares for you to¬ 
day, will take care of you to-morrow, and every day. 

5. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will 

give you unfailing strength to bear it. 

6. Be at peace, then, and put aside all anxious thoughts 

and imaginations. 

7. Do not worry. 

8. Worry is distrust; worry is disbelief. Trust and faith 

forbid worry. 

9. If you believe God, you have no occasion to worry. 

10. If you really believe and trust Him, your needs will 

be met, day by day, whether you can see the way in 
advance or not. Maintain the joy of the Lord. 

1 St. Catherine of Genoa and Sufi. 2-6 St. Francis de Sales. 
8 L. Abbott. 9-10 G. A. Kratzer. 




104 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 14th. 

Turn ye to the Lord with all your heart, and with fasting, 
and with weeping, and with mourning: 

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn 
unto Him: 

For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of 
great kindness, and He doth repent of evil. 

Return unto Him, and He will return unto you; 

For He is merciful, and will not keep anger forever. 
Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have trans¬ 
gressed against the Lord your God. 

Wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be 
saved. Joel , Mai. and Jer. 

1. It is never too late to repent, to love more, to work 

more, to watch and pray. 

2. You cannot alter the past: Leave that to God; give 

yourself to the future. You cannot earn the remis¬ 
sion of sins: Accept it as His free gift. 

3. If you have been wanting towards God, all you have to 

do is to resist Him no longer. Even if you have dis¬ 
appointed God hundreds of times, return sincerely 
to Him. cease to resist Him, and He will at once 
open His arms to you. 

4. It is He Himself who has inspired you with the wish 

to return; how can He fail to welcome the aspiration 
which He Himself has kindled in your heart? Do 
not fear that your unfaithfulness can render you 
unworthy of the mercy of God; nothing is so worthy 
of His mercy as a great misery. 

5. O how God loves those who present themselves with 

their most soiled and tattered garments, and who 
ask of Him as of a father a garment worthy of Him. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2 L. Abbott. 3-5 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 105 


April 15th. 

Be ye also ready. Matt. 24:44. 

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burn¬ 
ing. Luke 12:35. 

Behold, I come quickly: Hold that fast which thou 
hast, that no man take thy crown. Rev. 3:11. 

Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our 
hearts unto wisdom. Ps. 90:12. 

The world is mortal. In one instant it will pass away, 
but the principle of ease and tranquillity is the soul which 
is in the eternal world. 

Real life is the life of the spirit, while the body has to 
die when its light has come to an end. Therefore, of what 
importance is it? Abdul Baha. 

“What a comparatively momentary affair” our whole life 
is. Cora Linn Daniels. 

This mortal life is fickle and unstable like unto a shift¬ 
ing shadow, and the human life is like unto a mirage and 
a reflection on the water. Even a short duration of life 
is sufficient. Abdul Baha. 

The process of material life “never takes any noticeable 
length of time”. Cora Linn Daniels. 

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry, 
hold not Thy peace at my tears: For I am a stranger with 
Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare 
me that I may recover strength, before I go hence and be 
Ps. 39:12-13. 


no more. 




106 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 16th. 

Dwell in thought upon those things only that are of 
real moment. M. B. Wallace. 

Search your hearts. Purify your minds. Have supreme 
faith. Do not falter. Sanctify your every thought. 

M. B. Wallace. 

One strong heavenward aspiration, one deep desire, one 
clear thought, is more precious than a whole day, even a 
godly day, lived on the surface of things. 

M. B. Wallace. 

Let us turn away from material thoughts. Let us turn 
away from limited things and soar toward the limitless, 
the empyrean realms of vision. Abdul Baha. 

Keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, 
disease, and death cannot enter them. 

Nothing can be added to the mind already full. 

There is no door through which evil can enter, and no 
space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. The best antidote against evils of all kinds, against the 

evil thoughts that haunt the soul, against the need¬ 
less perplexities which distract the conscience, is to 
keep hold of the good we have. 

2. Impure thoughts will not stand against pure words 

and prayers and deeds. 

3. Little doubts will not avail against great certainties. 

4. Fix your affection on things above, and then you will 

less and less be troubled by earthly cares, and you 
will be freed from the bondage of fear. 

1-4 Dean Stanley. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


107 


April 17 th. 

The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the 
Almighty hath given me life. Job 33:4. 

You are put here in your world principally to accom¬ 
plish Divine diffusion. God multiplies Himself in you. 
You are one of the sparks of eternal joy thrown off from 
the great centre of life. Cora Linn Daniels. 

It is the rich Divine exuberance in which we live, move, 
and receive vitality. We are compassed with good, and 
living in an eternal fountain of strength. All potency is 
in spirit. Our trust is in the unseen. Through it we are 
filled with life. H. Wood. 

Citizens of the world, accept the “glorious liberty of the 
children of God,” and be free! This is your divine right. 

The illusion of material sense, not divine law, has bound 
you, entangled your free limbs, crippled your capacities, 
enfeebled your body, and defaced the tablet of your being. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

In the quiet inner center of yourself is this living Pres¬ 
ence, in whose love and wisdom you may repose in peace¬ 
ful trust. It exists, it abounds, it abides. You need not 
consult books or persons, nor approach it through the 
media of petitions and ceremonies. You simply need to 
discover that the very life by which you exist is a part 
of this abiding Presence, persisting through all the muta¬ 
tions of time, and then to rise to a plane superior to the 
sensations, the self-interests, fears, beliefs and pleasures 
which have so long held you in bondage to matter. 

H. W. Dresser. 





108 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 18th. 

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts: The whole earth 
is full of His glory. Isa. 6:3. 

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil. Hab. 1:13. 

The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his vouth. 

Gen. 8:21. 

O son of existence! Thy heart is my home: purify it 
for My descent: Thy spirit is My outlook: Prepare it for 
My manifestation. Baha’o’llah. 

Thou meetest him that rejoieeth and worketh righteous 
ness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways. Isa. 6:4. 

My soul followeth hard after Thee. Ps. 63:8. 

O send out Thy light and Thv truth: Let them lead me. 

Ps. 43:3. 

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me 
from secret faults. Ps. 19:12. 

Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, 
fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her 
and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand 
of the poor and the needy. Ezek. 16:49. 

The spirit resembles a rivulet when the earth fills the 
soul. Put away the terrestrial and the mighty torrent of 
living water will rush through your freed body. 

Abdul Baha. 

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break 
up your fallow ground: For it is time to seek the Lord, 
till He come and rain righteousness upon you. 

' Hos. 10:12. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


109 


April 19 th. 

The Lord our God is holy. Ps. 99:9. 

May God establish your hearts unblamable in holiness. 

I Thess. 3:13. 

May God make you a dear one of the two realms, free 
you from every fetter save the love of God, and confirm 
you by the breaths of the Holy Ghost. Abdul Baha. 

1. We must travel in the way of God. 

2. Day and night we must endeavor to become better; 

3. Our belief must increase and become firmer; 

4. Our good qualities and our turning to God must be 

greater; the fire tff our love must flame more 
brightly. 

5. Then, day by day, we will make progress. 

6. This progress depends upon faithfulness, wisdom, 

chastity, intelligence and action. 

7. We are ever degraded by ignorance, lack of faith, 

untruth and selfishness. 

8. Self-ignorance, self-will, self-righteousness, lust, covet¬ 

ousness, envy, revenge, are foes to grace, peace, and 
progress; they must be met manfully and overcome, 
or they will uproot all happiness. 

9. Be of good cheer; the warfare with one’s self is grand; 

it gives one plenty of employment. 

10. And the divine Principle worketh with you,—and 

obedience crowns persistent effort with everlasting 
victory. 

11. If this heart, humble and trustful, faithfully asks 

divine Love to feed it with the bread of heaven, 
health, holiness, it will be conformed to a fitness to 
receive the answer to its desire. 

1-5 Abdul Baha. 6-7 Baha’o’llah. 8-11 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




110 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


A pril 20th. 

In His times He shall shew, who is the blessed and only 
potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords; who only 
hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can 
approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see, 
to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. 

I Tim. 6:14-15. 

God, the Highest, is in the deepest abyss within us and 
is waiting for us to return to Him. He is so great, and yet 
nobody finds Him; he calls so loudly, and nobody hears 
Him; He is so near and nobody feels Him; He gives Him¬ 
self to everybody, and nobody knows His name—men flee 
from Him, and say they cannot find Him; they turn their 
backs and say, they cannot see Him. J. Denck. 

He with all His gifts is common to all. J. Ruysbroeck. 

O friends! Sleep with your face turned to the Friend, 
and rest in bed in the thought of the Beloved One. From 
flowers inhale the fragrance of the Loved One, and in 
every fire see the light of the face of the Desired One. 

Baha’o’llah. 

Whosoever loves money does not love God, and whoso¬ 
ever loves God does not love money. Abdul Baha. 

Yes, I know, this is nothing but Thy love, O Beloved of 
my heart—this golden light that dances upon the leaves, 
these idle clouds sailing across the sky, this passing breeze 
leaving its coolness upon my forehead. The morning light 
has flooded my eyes—this is Thy message to my heart. 
Thy face is bent from above. Thy eyes look down on my 
eyes, and my heart has touched Thy feet. R. Tagore. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


111 


April 21st. 

Become, every one of you, a new creation. Be baptized 
by the fire of the love of God and by the spirit of the 
knowledge of God, in order that you may become char¬ 
acterized by the spiritual attributes. Abdul Baha. 

Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in me. 
And let not sin reign in your mortal body, that ye 
should obey it in the lusts thereof. 

But walk in the Spirit, so that ye shall not fulfill the 
lusts of the flesh. Mary Baker G. Eddy, Rom. and Gal. 

God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 
hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowl¬ 
edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

II Cor. 4:6. 

1. Whatever guides thought spiritually benefits mind and 

body. 

2. Indeed, “a man rightly guided in life, living spiritually 

thoughtful days, instead of days of blindness, is so 
filled with the light and life of the Spirit that it 
constantly cleanses him. Every fiber of his being 
responds”. 

3. Even the pangs of death disappear, accordingly as the 

understanding that we are spiritual beings here re¬ 
appears. 

4. Oh, for that light and love ineffable, which casteth out 

all fear, all sin, sickness, and death; that seeketh not 
her own, but another’s good; that saith Abba, Father, 
and is born of God! 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2 T. Tapper. 3-4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




112 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 22nd. 

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Jas. 5:11. 

How little human grief is, how unreal, how baseless! 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to 
he compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

Rom. 8:18. 

In the world ye have tribulations: but be of good cheer; 
I have overcome the world. John 16:33. 

For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with 
great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid 
My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting 
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy 
Redeemer. Isa. 54:7. 

O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice 
and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the 
days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein 
we have seen evil. Ps. 90.*] 4-15. 

Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any 
merry? Let him sing psalms. Jas. 5:13. 

The spirit of man will sustain his infirmity. 

Prov. 18:14. 

The real way to get relief from suffering is to give one’s 
self up heartily to God. Fenelon. 

In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel 
of His presence saved them: In His love and in His pity 
He redeemed them, and carried them all the days of old. 

Isa. 63:9. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


113 


April 23d. 

Be never discouraged. Be always hopeful. Be never 
afraid. 

Whatever troubles come on you, of mind, body, or 
estate, from within or from without, from chance or from 
intent, from friends or foes—whatever your trouble be, 
though ye be lonely, 0 children of the heavenly Father, 
be not afraid. H. W. Dresser and J. H. Newman. 

1. There is never a day so dreary, 

But God can make it bright; 

And unto the soul that trusts Him, 

He giveth songs in the night. 

2. There is never a path so hidden, 

But God will lead the way, 

If we seek for the Spirit’s guidance 
And patiently wait and pray. 

3. There is never a cross so heavy, 

But the nail-scarred hands are there 
Outstretched in tender compassion, 

The burden to help us bear. 

4. There is never a heart so broken 
But the loving Lord can heal; 

For the heart that was pierced on Calv’ry 
Does still for his loved ones feel. 

5. There is never a life so darkened, 

So hopeless and unblessed, 

But may be filled with the love of God 
And enter His promised rest. 

6. There is never a sin or sorrow, 

There is never a care or loss, 

But- that we may bring to Jesus 
And leave at the foot of the cross. 


1-6 Anon. 




114 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 24th. 

Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not. / John 3:6. 

Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God accept¬ 
ably with reverence and godly fear. Heb. 12:28. 

Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumer¬ 
able company of angels, to the general assembly and 
church of the first born, which are written in heaven, 
and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just 
men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new 
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh 
better things than that of Abel. Heb. 12:22-24. 

Our conversation is in heaven: from whence also we 
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall 
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto 
his glorious body, according to the working whereby he 
is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

Phil. 3:20-21. 

Little by little detach your heart entirely from this 
world, laying aside, deliberately and voluntarily, all vani¬ 
ties, worldly seductions, and devote yourself to the vine¬ 
yard of God in whatsoever capacity you are fitted to 
serve, letting every action, word and deed become a telling 
monument, a fitting praise and an everlasting glory for 
His Holy Name. Abdul Baha. 

Holy contrition, holy humility, holy charity, holy devo¬ 
tion, and holy joy make the soul holy and good. 

Giles of Assisi. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 115 


April 25th . 

I fear not death; I fear only not having lived well 
enough. Zendavesta. 

He who has cultivated the intellectual and the spiritual 
in himself sufficiently to rule his hody and his character, 
almost emancipating himself from the burden of the ele¬ 
mental attributes, has already half emerged into that state 
where the material is put off entirely, with the evil which 
belongs to it and it alone. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. Death is imaginary and absolutely unreal. 

2. The conception of annihilation is a factor in human 

degradation, it is the cause of human debasement, 
it is the cause of human lowliness, it is the cause 
of human fear. 

3. But it is, in reality, because man’s sense of life is 

material, that he fears death; life, however, is 
spiritual. 

4. Material forms disintegrate, but life never dies. 

5. Material, the expression or result of idea, is transi¬ 

tory; it is a slight barrier, which stretches as a 
veil between man and reality. 

6. This reality is spirit; the foundation basis is spirit, 

the life of man is due to the spirit, the happiness, 
the animus, the radiance, the glory of man—all 
are due to the spirit. 

7. Spirit is solid and undestruetible. 

8. Life is eternal. Life and goodness are immortal. 

9. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveli¬ 

ness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age 
and blight. 

10. Let us take hold on eternal life. 


1-2 Abdul Baha. 4 H. Wood. 5 Cora Linn Daniels. 6 Abdul 
Baha. 7 H. Wood. 8-9 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 10 Tim . 




116 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 26th. 

Unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only 
wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. 

/ Tim. 1:17. 

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God. 

Zeph. 1:7. 

Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker. Isa. 45:9. 

God’s presence encompasses all our life. He is with us 
in all that we do, in all that we are, even with us when 
we suffer, and when we are tempted. He is with us in 
every difficulty. H. W. Dresser. 

Let God guide you. Peace be unto those who follow 
guidance. 

Verily, God’s guidance is the guidance, and we are 
bidden to resign ourselves unto the Lord of the worlds, 
and to be steadfast in prayer. Therefore have we trusted 
in Him, and have resigned our affairs unto Him; He is 
enough for us, and enough for all things. 

Baha’o’llah and Koran. 

1. Confine your thoughts and ideas in turning to God 

and submitting unto Him. 

2. Serve God all you can, for this service is eternal and 

lasting. 

3. Follow Him blindfold in a pure faith in all. 

4. Act carefully before Him; hold to Him alone and look 

upon Him as the cause of all things. 

5. And always in all matters notice what God says in 

you; pay attention to the witness of your heart, and 
never think or act against your conscience. 

1-2 Abdul Baha. 3 Fenelon. 4-5 J. Franck. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


117 


April 27th. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break 
through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures 
in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and 
where thieves do not break through and steal. 

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 

Turn to this end, your faces thoroughly unto God; so 
that He may make you to show forth the greatest treasure 
and make you to be sources of those signs which may 
prove your proper relationship unto God and the joy of 
your hearts through the fragrances of the Holy Spirit, in 
every moment and instant. Matt, and Abdul Baha. 

Distribute My possessions among My poor, that in 
heaven thou mayest receive from the boundless treasures 
of glory and from the stores of eternal bliss. 

But the sacrifice of the spirit is more glorious, could 
you see with Mine eyes. Baha’o’llah. 

He who refers all things to the glory of God, enjoys 
God in all things, and he sees in them the image of God. 
For he takes all from the hand of God, thanks Him and 
praises Him in everything, and God shines ever brightly 
before him, for he watches God with close attention, and 
never willingly turns away to worthless things. For all 
is bare and empty in which there is not either the glory 
of God or the good of our neighbor or our own salvation. 

J. Ruysbroeck. 




118 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 28th. 

Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 

II Cor. 7:1. 

It is high time to awake out of sleep; the night is far 
spent, the day is at hand: 

Cast off, therefore, the works of darkness, and put on 
the armour of light. Walk honestly, as in the day; not in 
rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wanton¬ 
ness, not in strife and envying; but put on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the 
lusts thereof. 

For they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with 
the affections and lusts. Rom. and Gal. 

1. Walk not as other gentiles walk, in the vanity of their 

mind, having the understanding darkened, being 
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance 
that is in them because of the blindness of their 
heart: 

2. Who being past feeling have given themselves over 

unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with 
greediness. 

3. Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor 

adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves 
with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunk¬ 
ards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the 
Kingdom of God. 

4. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but 

ye are sanctified, hut ye are justified in the name 
of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 

1-2 Eph . 3-4 Cor . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


119 


April 29th . 

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving¬ 
kindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender 
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly 
from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I 
acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before 
me. Ps. 51:1-3. 

If Thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who 
shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee, that 
Thou mayest be feared. Ps. 130:3-4. 

To Thy forgiveness and pardon Thou hast accustomed 
every one in existence. The sins are a bubbling foam and 
a full ocean is Thy mercy. Abdul Baha. 

Be not in despair of the mercy of God; verily, God 
forgives sins, all of them; verily, He is forgiving, merciful. 

Koran. 

Be confident in the mercy of thy Lord, and ask what¬ 
ever thou desirest. Verily, God is the Generous, the 
Giver. Abdul Baha. 

Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. Luke 7:50. 

1. The reason you cannot think that you are forgiven is 

because you have no peace. 

2. But peace is not the result of being forgiven; it is the 

result of believing that one is forgiven. 

3. You are expecting to believe that you are forgiven 

because you are at peace, but you can have peace 
only when you believe that you are forgiven. 

4. You are to believe that you are forgiven, not because 

you experience any change of feeling, but because 
God declares that He forgives you. 

1-4 L. Abbott. 




120 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


April 30th. 

1. Repine not that thou art surrounded by irritable and 

selfish people; but rather rejoice that thou art so 
favored as to have thine own imperfections revealed 
to thee, and that thou art so placed as to necessitate 
within thee a constant struggle for self-mastery and 
the attainment of perfection. 

2. The more there is of harshness and selfishness around 

thee the greater is the need of thy meekness and 
love. 

3. Strive after meekness. 

4. Increase thy patience and forbearance day by day. 

5. Bid thy tongue cease from all harsh words. 

6. Withdraw thy mind from selfish arguments, and refuse 

to brood upon thy wrongs. 

7. If thou wilt be borne thyself, hear also with others. 

8. And love them. 

9. If thou doest so all will be well. For love is heaven. 

10. But where envying and strife is, there is confusion 

and every evil work. 

11. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a 

stalled ox and hatred therewith. 

12. Remember that our life is short; that it yields hut 

a few days for love. 

13. And that “love and service are all there is of life”. 

14. For we are created especially for the sake of one 

another. 

15. And what do we live for if it is not to make life less 

difficult and more pleasant for each other? 

1-6 James' Allen. 7 Thomas a Kempis. 10 Jas . 11 Prov . 12 R. 
Tagore. 13 C. B. Patterson. 14 Rom . 15 G. Eliot. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


121 


May 1st. 

Life is richer, love stronger, truth more beautiful, na¬ 
ture fairer, music sweeter, art diviner, than we have ever 
dreamed. God is infinitely better than we can imagine. 

There is no failure, and pessimism is only the shadow 
of a disordered dream. 

An eternal unfolding is going on which shows infinite 
wisdom, order, foresight and beneficence. 

We are on the way towards the Father’s house. And 
present discord will glide into the harmony of the future. 

H. Wood. 

1. All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner 

of things shall be well; well in all, and well for all. 

2. For the universe is so constituted that all shall turn 

to righteousness at last. 

3. The greatest sinner can grow to become the greatest 

saint; and every individual member of the human 
race can attain to the loftiest degrees. 

4. “Nothing is too good” or too great for any man, “no 

matter how great the thing may be, no matter how 
undeserving [he] may seem to be”. 

5. For “all along the way, from the lowest valley to the 

highest mountain peak”, are to “be found life’s way¬ 
farers; but the one who stands on the mountain peak 
started life in the deepest valley; and the one who 
is in the deepest valley shall yet ascend the moun¬ 
tain heights, for life is ever onward and upward”. 

1 St. Julian of Norwich. 2 H. W. Dresser. 3 J. C. Street and 
Abdul Baha. 4 W. W. Atkinson. [5_C. B. Patterson. 




122 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 2nd. 

May God grant you, according to the riches of His 
glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the 
inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; 
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be 
able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, 
and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love 
of Christ which passeth knowledge, that you might be 
filled with all the fulness of God. 

But unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly 
above all that we ask or think, according to the power 
that worketh in us, unto Him he glory in the church by 
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. 
Amen. Eph. 3:16-21. 

1. You should have your principles and ideals ready for 

use on every occasion. 

2. Taking advantage of all the light God has given you; 

3. Belief does nothing; 

4. Unless you get the spirit of it and use it, your progres¬ 

sion in spiritual awakenment will not be apparent. 

5. What a man knows should find expression in what 

he does. 

6. In reality, man has but so much knowledge as he works 

good and no more. One only knows what he prac¬ 
tices. 

7. In order to apprehend more, we must put into prac¬ 

tice what we already know. 

1 Epictetus. 2 Fenelon. 3-4 K. H. Newcomb. 5 0. N. Boree. 
6 Giles of A.ssisi and Savonarola. 7 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


123 


May 3d. 

1. Leave me, O Lord, not to myself, for I always desire 

to do what is wrong. Hold Thou my right arm, 0 
God! and dwell continually with me. 

2. Guide me to the fountain of Thy knowledge, and 

encircle me with Thy glory. 

3. Thou art the strength of my heart, and the trust of 

my soul, and I desire no one beside Thee. 

4. 0 my God! Thy mercy is my need and my aid in the 

world, and in the day of judgment. 

5. Thy nearness is my hope, and to commune with Thee 

is my joy: Thy love is my comfort: Thy presence 
is my peace: Thy Word is my healing: Thy mercy 
is my light: and to serve before Thee is my utmost 
desire. 

6. 0 my God! Reveal Thyself to me and help me to 

look evermore to Thy beauty. Make Thy beauty be 
my food, and let Thy Presence be my drink; 

7. Let my trust be in Thy will, and my deeds according 

to Thy command; let my service be acceptable to 
Thee, and my action a praise to Thee. 

8. Take from my heart all fear; 

Make me to know both day and night time 
Thou art near. 

Make me to see Thy love eternal, 

Encircling me always; 

Make me to feel Thy wondrous Presence 
All my days. 

Give me the faith of little children, 

Trusting only Thee; 

Knowing naught can change 

Thy goodness unto me. Amen. 

1-7 Baha’o’llah. 8 F. Carter. 




124 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 4th. 

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Thou shalt he 
saved and Thy house. Acts 16:31. 

I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that 
He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him 
against that day. II Tim. 1:12. 

1. Do you doubt that Christ is as active now as he was 

two thousand years ago? Can he be blind and deaf 
to the cries of humanity? 

2. He holdeth the sickle in his hand, and reapeth the 

ripe grain of his ancient sowing. 

3. His ministering angel still bears his messages of peace 

to earth. 

4. Is not his name as potent, his will as strong, his com¬ 

passion as tender, his consideration as deep, his 
comprehension as broad, and his love as perfect as 
when he condescended to tread your planet cen¬ 
turies ago? 

5. What do you suppose the dear Christ is doing all this 

time? Do you think his invisible influence is not 
as persuasive as was his visible? 

6. Is the time gone by when he has power to raise from 

the dead, to heal the sick, to rescue the perishing, 
to atone for the wicked? 

7. How know you, feeble and weak-sighted mortal that 

you are, what are the plans and intentions of One 
for every living soul today? 

8. Be not narrow! He who came to save the world will 

save it, rest assured. 

9. And cannot you trust him who gave himself to order 

things aright? 

1-9 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


125 


May 5th. 

If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father 
will also forgive you. Matt. 6:14. 

God pardons bygones. Koran. 

Fear not to confront realities. The Saviour lives; and 
the first joy that you will give to him is when, leaving 
off your false excuses, you throw yourself with a full heart 
and empty hands into his arms of mercy. J. Hamilton. 

I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though 
I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God and 
will hear them. Zech. 10:6. 

Hear me, O Lord; for Thy lovingkindness is good: turn 
unto me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. 

Ps. 69:16. 

1. Wicked heart as you may have, God commands you 

to pray. 

2. Even when you have lived far from Him, you need 

not fear to approach Him with familiar love. 

3. Remove, therefore, from yourself a doubtful mind and 

doubt not at all whether to ask of God, saying 
within yourself, “How can I ask a thing of the Lord 
and receive it, seeing that I have committed so many 
sins against Him?” 

4. Reason not thus, but turn to the Lord with your whole 

heart, and ask of Him nothing wavering, and you 
shall know His exceeding compassion, that He will 
surely not abandon you, but will fulfil the petition 
of your soul. 

5. For God is not as men who bear a grudge, but Himself 

is without malice and has compassion on His crea¬ 
tures. 

1 Anon. 2 Fenelon. 3-5 St. Hermas. 




126 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 6th. 

If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples 
indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free. John 8:21. 

Receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is 
able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the Word, 
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 

Jas. 1:21, 22. 

That on the good ground are they, which in an honest 
and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and 
bring forth fruit with patience. Luke 8:15. 

So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed 
into the ground; and should sleep and rise night and day, 
and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not 
how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first 
the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 

Mark 4:26-28. 

The Spirit is just as tender as a loving mother and takes 
us in its everlasting, infinite arms, soothing and healing 
us through right words. H. Stowe. 

Take heed how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him 
shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall 
be taken even that which he seemeth to have. Luke 8:1. 

May your heart be empty and pure through the light 
of the Word of God shining therein. Abdul Baha. 

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to 
them; that thy profiting may appear to all. I Tim. 4:15. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


127 


May 7 th. 

He which hath begun a good work in you will perform 
it until the day of Jesus Christ. Phil. 1:6. 

0 taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the 
man that trusteth in Him. Ps. 34:8. 

The heavens of His mercy and the oceans of His bounty 
are so vast that He has never disappointed those who 
begged of Him, nor refused those who willed to come 
to Him. 

He has mercy on all men, because He has power to do 
all things, and He overlooks the sins of men to the end 
that they may repent, for He loves all things that are. 

Baha’o’llah and Wisdom of Solomon. 

1. Food and drink, clothing and shelter, flowers and 

colors, beauty, order, variety, harmony and unity, 
all things for the material welfare, growth and 
delight of man. 

2. If the generous Father so provides for material and 

mental needs, how much more must He care for his 
spiritual welfare and provide for his spiritual de¬ 
velopment. 

3. He, indeed, is ever near, and His Spirit is “pressing 

upon the human spirit, endeavoring to penetrate 
and fill it, to free it from error and evil, to purify 
and deepen and ennoble it”. 

4. Be hopeful, therefore, my soul, be hopeful and of good 

courage. 

5. For however intolerable thou art to thyself, yet thou 

wilt be protected, enriched and helped by thy 
heavenly Father, as if He had nothing else to do 
than to lead thee to perfection by the highest steps 
of love. 

1-2 Baha’o’llah. 3 J. IL Snowden. 4-5 M. Molinos. 




128 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 8th. 

Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. 

Rom. 5:20. 

In returning and rest shall ye he saved; in quietness 
and confidence shall be your strength. Isa. 30:15. 

I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for 
Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 

Isa. 43:25. 

1. Study yesterday in order to learn wisdom for to¬ 

morrow, but when the lesson has been learned 
study it no longer. 

2. We ought to learn wisdom from our mistakes; we 

ought to acquire virtues from our sins. 

3. Spend no time in repining; but spend all the time 

that is necessary in order to learn its lesson. 

4. No man ought to carry the past as a prisoner carries 

the ball chained to his ankle. 

5. No man ought to allow the memory of the past to 

prevent his peace and joy in present fellowship 
with God. 

6. God declares that He buries our sins in the depths 

of the sea; it is not right or wise for us to fish them 
up again and take a new inventory of them. 

7. He blots them out of the book of His remembrance; 

8. It is neither right nor wise for us to engrave them 

with pens of steel in the book of our remembrance. 

9. To do this is to disbelieve His word, distrust His 

forgiveness, refuse His comradeship. 

10. It is injurious to us, insulting to Him. 

11. Let not even your sins exclude you from the com¬ 

radeship of God, who delights to pardon iniquity. 
1-11 L. Abbott. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


129 


May 9th. 

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. 

Prov. 15:15. 

1. Serve God day and night, and seek happiness from 

His name. Surrender to Him, trust Him, believe 
Him. 

2. Those who have given themselves unreservedly to 

God are always happy. 

3. And no one who really believes can ever feel sad. 

4. The measure of your grief is the measure of your 

unbelief. 

5. With the sincere belief, therefore, in the unity of 

God, and trust in Him, it behooves you to be satis¬ 
fied with Him, and not to be sad or angry on 
account of anything that vexes you. 

6. Beware of sadness and anger. Let your heart be with 

Him always, let it not be withdrawn from Him for 
a single moment. 

7. Seek, as a plain duty, to cultivate a buoyant, joyous 

sense of the crowded kindnesses of God in your 
daily life. 

8. And be happy. 

9. In the simplest way be happy; and you are learning 

the secret of life. 

10. Be happy, and you will be good. 

11. And through happiness you will be successful. 

1 Abdul Baha. 2 Fenelon. 3-4 W. T. Stead. '5-6 Shaquiq. 7 

A. Maclaren. 9 Magazine of Mysteries . 10 Anon. 11 C. 

B. Newcomb. 




130 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 10 th. 

If you would draw nigh to God, you must draw nigh 
to love. Anon. 

Love is the joy that is at the root of all creation. It is 
the white light of pure consciousness that emanates from 
God. So, to be one with this all-feeling Being who is in 
the external sky, as well as in our inner soul, we must 
attain to that summit of consciousness which is love. 

R. Tagore. 

Sin is only the absence of love. W. T. Stead. 

God loveth a cheerful giver. II Cor. 9:7. 

Every man shall give as he is able, according to the 
blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee. 

Deut. 16:17. 

Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me. 

Prov. 24:29. 

The heart of the righteous studieth to answer. 

Prov. 15:28. 

Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with 
another. Mark 9:50. 

1. Night and day endeavor to attain perfect harmony, 

2. Be thoughtful concerning your own spiritual develop¬ 

ment, and close your eyes to the shortcomings of one 
another. 

3. By good deeds, pure lives, humility and meekness be 

a lesson to others. 

4. There is no greater satisfaction than being a source 

of joy to the hearts. 

5. I ask God that you may become like angels of heaven, 

sources of happiness to souls. 

1-5 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


131 


May 11th. 

According to Thy name, 0 God, so is Thy praise unto 
the ends of the earth. Ps. 48:10. 

Gratitude and joy are antidotes for every ill. 

H. C. Jenkins. 

Only he has attained the final truth who knows that the 
whole world is a creation of joy. R. Tagore. 

From inordinate love and vain fear ariseth all disquiet¬ 
ness of heart and distraction of the mind. 

Thomas a Kempis. 

We find no reason for unhappiness when we dismiss 
our apprehensions. C. B. Newcomb. 

Little by little the time goes by— 

Short if you sing through it, long if you sigh. 

L. Herbert. 

Provided always I execute what is well pleasing in Thy 
divine sight, wherever I am, whatever I do, I am quite 
great enough, quite rich enough, quite happy enough, 
quite wise enough. P. Bayma. 

In order to be happy, we have to submit our individual 
will to the sovereignty of the universal will. In us we 
have the world-man who is immortal, who is not afraid 
of death or sufferings, and who looks upon pain as only 
the other side of joy. R. Tagore. 

If the happy worker is striving to do more, to know 
more, to grow more, to live more and to be more, God 
will ask nothing more of him. God will keep him happy. 
Happiness is of the spirit. Find God, talk with God, 
know God, affirm God, live [with] God, and we will be 
happy, no matter what the circumstances that surround 
us. J. H. Appel. 




132 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 12th. 

The river of God is full of water. Ps. 65:9. 

The mysteries of the Kingdom are the knowledge of 
God, love of God and the guidance of God. These are 
greater than all worldly possessions. Jesus. 

He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that 
formed the eye, shall He not see? He that chastiseth the 
heathen, shall not He correct? Verily, blessed is the man 
whom the Lord chasteneth, and teacheth him out of His 
law, that He may give him rest from the days of adversity. 

Ps. 94:9, 10. 

1. The very least and the very greatest sorrows that God 

ever suffers to befall us, proceed from the depths of 
His unspeakable love. 

2. And such great love were better for us than the highest 

and best gifts He has ever given us. 

3. So that if our little finger only aches, if we are cold, 

if we are hungry or thirsty, if others vex us by their 
words or deeds, or whatever happens to us that 
causes us distress or pain, it will all help to fit us for 
a noble and blessed state. 

4. Instead of rebelling at circumstances, blaming, criti¬ 

cising and worrying, we should act on the principle 
that everything that God sends is for our good; 

5. That is, it will result in good if we approach it in the 

right spirit. 

6. And we ought to recognize that He, the Master of 

events, has been capable of planning for us all along, 
so that we may trustfully leave all our affairs in His 
hands. 

1-3 J. Tauler. 4-6 H. W. Dresser and Author. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


133 


May 13th. 

Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust. 

Ps. 40:4. 

Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh 
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 

Jer. 17:5. 

Put thy trust in Him, and He will help thee: Order thy 
ways aright, and set thy hope on Him. Ecclesiasticus. 

Cast your cares upon the Lord and He will set them 
straight. St. Hermas. 

Possess yourself as much as you possibly can in peace; 
not by any effort, but by letting all things fall to the 
ground which trouble or excite you. Mme. Guyon. 

Have not I commanded thee, Be strong and of good 
courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed? For 
the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. 

Josh. 1:9. 

His love is everywhere and always around you. Anon. 

Believe in your heart that God is love, is all in all; 
believe that love is the reality, like light suffusing your 
being, and hate and fear no more than darkness, the 
power of evil but the sinister thought of the world. Be¬ 
lieve and live. S. D. Kirkham. 

Lay down your earthly cares, look up to that pure light, 
the source of perfection and peace, and its beams shall 
kindle in your hearts the love of God, in whose presence 
and blessing you shall forever rest. Anon. 




134 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 14th. 

How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, 0 God! How 
great is the sum of them! Ps. 139:17. 

Make yourself nests of pleasant thoughts. J. RlJSKlN. 

1. Stand porter at the door of thought. 

2. Post, as it were, a guard at the door of the mind, and 

examine every thought which applies for admit¬ 
tance, whether it be in accord with the good gov¬ 
ernment of the mind, or antagonistic to it, in which 
case eject it summarily. 

3. You must control evil thoughts in the first instance, 

or they will control you in the second. 

4. The wrong thought should be arrested before it has a 

chance to manifest itself. 

5. It should be nipped in the bud; 

6. And morbid and discouraging thoughts should not be 

permitted to remain in consciousness. 

7. For whatever wins conscious attention is likely to 

attract its like, to draw similar thoughts, and add 
to itself by accretion until it has become a moun¬ 
tain of difficulty. 

8. Guard, therefore, your thoughts! Admit none that is 

wrong; but bring into captivity every thought to 
the obedience of Christ. 

9. Think of good, not of evil; of health, not of disease; 

of life, not of death; of freedom, not of bondage. 

10. Keep the mind filled with loving, helpful, hopeful, 
encouraging, cheerful and fearless suggestions. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2 S. D. Kirkham. 3-4 Mary Baker G. 
Eddy. 5-7 H. W. Dresser. 8 Buddha and Cor . 9 H. W. Dres¬ 
ser. 10 O. S. Marden. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


135 


May 15th. 

The Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite. 

Jer. 51:56. 

All the churches shall know that I am He that searcheth 
the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of 
you according to his works. Rev. 2:23. 

When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and 
sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Jas. 1:15. 

There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; 
and hid, that shall not be known. Matt. 10:26. 

There can be no cheating. The thief steals from him¬ 
self. The swindler swindles himself. R. W. Emerson. 

God is witness over all. Koran. 

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: 
and merciful men are taken away, none considering that 
the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He 
shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds—each 
one walking in his uprightness. Isa. 56:1,2. 

For everything God has ordered a heaven and a hell; 
its heaven is its place of high degree—of fulness, matu¬ 
rity, and perfection; its hell is its place of low degree—of 
meagreness, immaturity and imperfection. Abdul Baha. 

Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and 
bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that 
My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. 

Jer. 2:19. 




136 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 16th. 

The will of the Lord be done. Acts 21:14. 

Yield yourself unto God. Submit yourself unto Him, 
and humble your sense to faith, and the light of knowl¬ 
edge shall be given you. God deceives you not; he is 
deceived that trusts too much to himself. 

Rom. and Thomas a Kempis. 

My will belongs to him in whom I exist. Epictetus. 

If any matter, proposal or desire meet with the assent 
of our inward nature in devout receptivity to the divine 
wisdom, it is right; if the inmost mind dissents, the 
prompting or plan should not be followed. 

H. W. Dresser. 

At each hour of the spiritual day there is an activity, 
a deed of love, a service for truth, more important than 
aught else. H. W. Dresser. 

There is a guidance which will lead us as directly as 
the bee-line instinct of an animal, if we become open to 
and implicitly follow it. H. W. Dresser. 

1. There is guidance for each of us; 

2. And in the following the Divine guidance, in doing the 

Divine will, we will find a thousand times more satis¬ 
faction than in all the pleasures which the world 
can impart to us. 

3. Blessed is that soul which by sincere self-renunciation 

abides always in the Creator’s hands, ready to do 
whatever He wills, not weary of saying hundred 
times daily, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?” 

I R. W. Emerson. 2 Mme. Guyon. 3 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


137 


May 17 th. 

God giveth to all life and spirit and all. Acts 17:25. 

The eternal flows out to, envelops and permeates all 
things which are impermanent. God, or Truth, which is 
the reality of God, gives life to mankind. Abdul Baha. 

Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created 
us? Mai 2:10. 

1. Whatever you are, you are from God. 

2. And only because you are from God, you are what 

you are. 

3. But “bless God that you are what you are—a living 

part of the intelligence in which you move. 

4. Whatever trials you may suffer, perhaps they may be 

the polishing brushes of circumstance rubbing you 
into a finer brilliance”. 

5. For you are one of His jewels, a diamond of God. 

6. “A diamond is a diamond on earth, and you cherish it 

according to its size”. 

7. But in heaven “each diamond is a gem struck off from 

the crown of joy, and its value lies not in its size, 
but in its identity. 

8. The fact that it is a diamond at all is enough”. 

9. And “if all yotir life you [should] remain a dull and 

unreflecting facet in the diamond crystal of being, 
at least remember that in being a facet at all you 
have attained forever your conscious identity; 

10. And God will see to it that in the perfection of prog¬ 
ress you shall shine like the rest”. 

1-2 De Sarasa. 3-10 Cora Linn Daniels. 




138 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 18th. 

I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness. 

Ps. 17:15. 

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, 
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conver¬ 
sation and godliness. II Pet. 3:11. 

We are to be entirely spiritual, purely brilliant, cutting 
our dependence from any other mention, thought or pur¬ 
pose, and confining our thoughts, mentions and occupa¬ 
tions to spreading the fragrances of God. Abdul Baha. 

With each returning year, higher joys, holier aims, a 
purer peace and diviner energy, should freshen the fra¬ 
grance of being. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. Watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was 

also in Christ Jesus; 

2. To do unto others as we would have them do unto us; 

and to be merciful, just, and pure. 

3. Learn what in thine own mentality is unlike the 

“anointed,” and cast it out. 

4. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your 

thought. 

5. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear 

sense and calm trust. 

6. Let mortals bow before the creator, and, looking 

through Love’s transparency, behold man in God’s 
own image and likeness, arranging in the beauty of 
holiness each budding thought. 


1-6 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


139 


May 19 th. 

Held by the cords of love, the swing of the ocean of 
joy sways to and fro; and a mighty sound breaks forth in 
song. Songs of Kabir. 

In what manner do we accept this world, which is a per¬ 
fect gift of joy? R. Tagore. 

1. Let them that love God be as the sun when he goeth 

forth in his might; 

2. Let them lift up their hearts with delight that they 

may be fitted to meet Him, and to mirror forth His 
beauty. 

3. Let them learn to radiate joy, not stingily, not 

meanly, but generously; to fling out gladness with¬ 
out reserve; to shed it in the home, on the street, on 
the car, in the store, everywhere. 

4. A child of God should be a visible beatitude, for joy 

and happiness, and a living doxology, for gratitude 
and adoration. 

5. Delighted with everything; 

6. Moving about to the rhythm of a silent song. 

7. For “all life is gladness when the heart is right, when 

it is attuned to the sweet cords of holy love”. 

8. A constant and buoyant gladness is the right expres¬ 

sion of true life. 

9. It is impious in a good man to be sad. 

10. And to be truly devout, we must not only do God’s 
will, hut we must do it with cheerfulness. 

1 Judg . 2 Baha’o’llah. 3 O. S. Marden. 4 C. H. Spurgeon. 7 
James Allen. 8 C. B. Newcomb. 9 W. Shakespeare. 10 St. 
Francis de Sales. 




140 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 20th. 

Be ye, therefore, followers of God, as dear children; 
and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath 
given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God 
for a sweet smelling savour. Eph. 5:1-2. 

Love was never yet written in words or told in story. 
Only the shadow of his bright presence ever illumined the 
earth-bound air. Cora Linn Daniels. 

To love and serve all men is to delight in God. 

Confucius. 

What light is to nature, love is to the heart of man. 

M. Collins. 

Your well-being depends upon love as that of a plant 
depends upon light. Do not ask what you should do, but 
give yourself up to that love which is within your reach. 

Tolstoy. 

Evil is the want of thought. Think—a loving thought 
is prayer. Love dies when you never think of the person 
loved. W. T. Stead. 

Man must ever strive to make the hearts grateful, to 
rejoice the spirits, to render the thoughts radiant, to be 
the cause of the comfort and ease of others. 

Abdul Baha. 


Let me be a little kinder, 

Let me be a little blinder 
To the faults of those about me; 

Let me praise a little more; 

Let me be, when I am weary, 

Just a little bit more cheery. R. Stoddard. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


141 


May 21st. 

I shall put My Spirit in you, and ye shall live. 

Ezek. 37:14. 

If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of 
his. Rom. 8:9. 

That good thing which was committed unto thee keep 
by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. II Tim. 1:14. 

Children, abide in Him. I John 2:28. 

Spend your time in ways that make for higher things 
and your steps will inevitably he led to where your ambi¬ 
tion points. Cora Linn Daniels. 

Purify your soul from all undue hope and fear, deny 
self—affections as well as appetites—and the inner eye 
will begin to exercise its clear and solemn vision. 

Plotinus. 

We must live in the world of Spirit, we must see the 
Divine Reality in everything, behold the illumination of 
the world of the Kingdom beyond and within the gloomy 
mask of this mortal existence. For the world of the King¬ 
dom is a world of lights, a world of happiness, a world of 
accomplishment, the real and eternal world. 

Abdul Baha. 

The spiritual sense of Life and its grand pursuits is of 
itself a bliss, health-giving and joy-inspiring. 

This sense of Life illumes our pathway with the radiance 
of divine Love. Earth has little light or joy for mortals 
before Life is spiritually learned. 

In some way, sooner or later, all must rise superior to 
materiality, and suffering is oft the divine agent in this 
elevation. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




142 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 22nd. 

My son, give Me thine heart. Prov. 23:26. 

My country, Lord, art Thou alone; 

No other can I claim or own; 

The point where all my wishes meet. 

My Law, my love, life’s only sweet. Mme. Guyon. 

1. Remove, 0 Lord, the covering of my sight so that I 

may see Thy Beauty and Thy essential Perfection, 
Thy astonishing profusion and Thy appearance to 
the hearts and spirits. 

2. Point unto me the right way, that is—bless me with 

love, Thine essence; so that, becoming free from all 
else save Thee, I may be wholly captivated by Thee, 
so as to know none but Thee, to see naught save 
Thee, to think of naught beside Thee. 

3. For truly unspeakable is the sweetness of contemplat¬ 

ing Thee, which Thou bestowest on them that love 
Thee. 

4. When shall I fully gather up myself into Thee, that by 

reason of my love to Thee I may not feel myself, but 
Thee alone, above all sense and measure? 

5. For T want Thee, only Thee!’ Let my heart repeat it 

forever. All desires that distract me, day and nigh', 
are false and empty to the core. 

6. As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for 

light, even thus in the depth of my unconsciousness 
rings the cry T want Thee, only Thee.’ 

7. As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes 

against peace with all its might, even thus my re¬ 
bellion strikes against Thy love and still its cry is— 
T want Thee, only Thee.’ 

1-2 Khaji Abd’allah. 3-4 Thomas a Kempis. 5-7 R. Tagore. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


143 


May 23d. 

Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Matt. 8:26. 

Wait for the Lord, behave thyself manfully, and be of 
good courage; do not distrust, do not leave thy place, but 
steadily expose both body and soul for the glory of God. 

Thomas a Kempis. 

Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose 
heart are the ways of them, who passing through the 
valley of Baka make it a well. Ps. 84:5-6. 

1. Open out like a flower and absorb from His love. 

2. Rest in Him, in whose care thou art in all the con¬ 

ditions of life. 

3. Remember, thou canst be brought into no condition, 

be it ever so severe, where Love has not been before 
thee, and where its tender lesson is not awaiting thee. 

4. Therefore despair not nor murmur, for that which 

seeketh to save, to heal, and to deliver, will guide 
thee, if thou seekest this guidance. 

5. Nothing can prevent thee from enjoying His love, His 

help, His peace and inspiring guidance, except thy 
own failure to recognize His presence; 

6. For He is here offering thee His fulness of love, wisdom 

and power. 

7. Yield, therefore, to this love and grace of thy heavenly 

Father. 

8. Be not afraid to plunge wholly into the ocean of His 

love—too happy if thou couldest do it so entirely as 
never to come forth again. 

1 H. W. Dresser. 3-4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 5 H. W. Dresser. 
7-8 Fenelon. 




144 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 24th. 

Be of good cheer: thy sins are forgiven thee. 

Matt. 9:2. 

Thou didst make Thy sons to be of good hope, because 
Thou givest repentance when men have sinned. 

Wisdom of Solomon. 

1. No one has learned the art of true living until he has 

trained his mind to forget every experience from 
which he can no longer derive any advantage—that 
will hinder his progress and will make him un- 
happy. 

2. No matter how great a mistake you have made, it 

should be forgotten, buried forever. Don’t keep 
digging it up. You have learned the lesson there is 
in it for you. 

3. The only good use you can make of an unfortunate 

mistake is to make it a starting-point for something 
better. 

4. You certainly should do your utmost to recover your 

peace of mind when you have lost it, and just so you 
must learn that there is nothing which ought to take 
it away or ever disturb it. 

5. Be assured that all disquiet is displeasing in God’s 

sight; for be it what it may it is never free from 
imperfection, and always springs from some evil 
root of self-love. 

6. For the disquiet you feel on account of your sin comes 

not from having offended God, but from having in¬ 
jured yourself. 

1-3 0. S. Marden. 4-6 L. Scupoli. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


145 


May 25th. 

Try to realize God’s presence. Say secretly, “The Lord 
is in His Holy Temple (His temple of the inner man) ; 
keep silence, 0 my heart, before Him.” 

E. M. Goulburn. 

1. There is almost a Divine force in silence. 

2. Drop the thing that worries, that excites, that inter¬ 

ests, that thwarts you; 

3. Let it fall like a sediment to the bottom, until the soul 

is no longer turbid, that you may serve God with a 
quiet mind. 

4. The Spirit cannot make communication to a soul in a 

turbulent state, stormy with passion, rocked by 
anxiety, or fevered with indignation. 

5. Composing yourself from time to time, setting the 

mind’s needle true, you will little by little approxi¬ 
mate toward the devout frame which binds the soul 
to its true center. 

6. Endeavor to make your heart such a little sanctuary in 

which you may continually realize the presence of 
God, and from which unhallowed thoughts, and even 
vain thoughts, are carefully excluded. 

7. For whenever you are thinking unhallowed and wrong 

thoughts you turn away from God. 

8. We cannot be conscious of the presence of God if 

thought is filled with the sense of worry, fear, 
anxiety, discouragement, condemnation of self or of 
others, resentment, injury, disappointment, jealousy, 
selfishness, ingratitude, criticism, self-pity and so 
forth. 

9. If we would dwell in the sunshine of God’s presence, 

we must make persistent effort to think the thoughts 
of God. This is our faithfulness. 

1-6 E. M. Goulburn. 8-9 C. L. Ramsay. 




146 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 26th. 

Some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them 
and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time 
of the end. Dan. 11:35. 

1. Nothing is “actually evil which leads to and actually 

promotes good, by the resistance it excites and the 
triumphs of virtue which grow out of it”. 

2. Untempted innocence is characterless. 

3. If evil leads to evil and degenerates the character and 

finally dominates and subdues the whole nature, 
that evil is unmitigated. 

4. Much classed as evil is disciplinary and remedial, and 

therefore beneficent, as tending in the end to 
greater virtue than if it had never been experi¬ 
enced. 

5. The realization of the misery of evil, its whips and 

stings of conscience, its shame of heart, is often 
necessary to bring a mind to a sense of its own 
unworthiness. 

6. For “you were not put on earth to slumber in undis¬ 

turbed innocence”. 

7. You were put there to work out your own salvation 

with fear and trembling, going through all kinds of 
evils, and if falling, rising again and going on. 

8. In that sense evil is not truly evil to him who con¬ 

quers, but a strong stepping-stone. 

9. The good in human nature is developed by just those 

experiences which are generally termed evils. 

10. Yea, every stumbling-block may, by God’s grace, be 

turned into a stepping-stone; 

11. And were there no “experiences, no temptations, no 

struggles, there could be no progress, no growth”. 

1-9 Cora Linn Daniels. 10 St. Julian of Norwich. 11 Cora 
Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


147 


May 27th. 

All of you are children of the Most High. Ps. 82:6. 

Thou sparest all things, because they are Thine, O 
sovereign Lord, Thou Lover of men’s lives: for Thine in¬ 
corruptible Spirit is in all things. Wisdom of Solomon. 

If the spiritual and divine eye of man is opened, he will 
see that nothing exists without the appearance of the 
splendor of the Ideal King. Baha’o’llah. 

It is evident that the Divine nearness is an unlimited 
nearness, be it in this world or the next. This is the near¬ 
ness which is above the comprehension of the minds. 

The more a man seeketh light from the Sun of Truth, 
the nearer he will draw. This nearness dependeth upon 
clearness, purity and perfection. Abdul Baha. 

Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and ye are 
not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore 
glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are 
God’s. I Cor. 6:19-20. 

The object of life is to evoke, to develop the God within. 

W. T. Stead. 

O Lord of the Kingdom! Although we are assembled, 
yet we are Thy scattered ones; captives of Thy shining 
face. 

Although we are incapable, yet we anticipate the mani¬ 
festation of Thy strength and ability. Although we are 
without capital and commodity, yet we are aided by the 
treasury of the Kingdom. Although we are a drop, yet 
we emanate from Thy sea of seas. Although we are an 
atom, yet we are illumined by Thy most bright sun. 

Abdul Baha. 




148 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 28th. 

The God of peace, that brought from the dead our Lord 
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood 
of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every 
good work to do His will, working in you that which is 
well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom 
be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Heb. 13:20-21. 

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

And be not conformed to this world; but be ye trans¬ 
formed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove 
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of 
God. Rom. 12:1-2. 

This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and 
more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may ap¬ 
prove things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and 
without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with 
the fruits of righteousness. Phil. 1:9-11. 

1. Be thou strong, therefore, and shew thyself a man; 

2. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in 

His ways, to keep His statutes, and His command¬ 
ments, and His judgments, and His testimonies. 

3. Serve Him with a perfect heart, and with a willing 

mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and under- 
standeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: 

4. If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou 

forsake Him, He will cast thee off. 


1-2 Kings. 3-4 Chron. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


149 


May 29th. 

Make hope a fine art, trust a habit, and love a boon 
companion. H. W. Dresser. 

Happiness is the king of our hearts. Let us not part 
from it. If the candle of happiness is ignited in the 
chamber of our heart, all the foreboding gloom of evil 
suggestions will be dispelled. My home is the home of 
peace. My home is the home of joy and delight. My 
home is the home of laughter and exultation. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Hope continually, and praise the Lord more and more. 

2. Be not cast down. 

3. If you saw Him who is standing on the shore, holding 

out His arms to welcome you to land, you would 
wade not only through a sea, but through hell itself 
to be with Him. 

4. If you have doubted and delayed, feared and worried 

in the past, do so no longer. 

5. The Saviour came that you might have life, and that 

you might have it more abundantly. 

6. Your heart, therefore, shall rejoice in him; 

7. And your mind shall be “stilled in the contemplation 

of the Presence and Power that is always here and 
bows to receive the blessing of the merciful, peaceful 
Spirit of Truth”. 

8. “Renouncing all faithless fears and vain regrets”, you 

shall “live in the glad freedom” of His children, “and 
do the work of the day in cheerfulness and hope”. 

1 Ps. 2-3 S. Rutherford. 4 Magazine of Mysteries. 5 St.John. 
6 Ps. 7 W. De Voe. 8 S. McComb. 




150 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


May 30th. 

My soul is more luminous, though my bodily powers 
begin to fail. 

Winter is on my head, hut eternal spring is in my heart. 
The nearer I approach the end the plainer do I hear 
around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds which 
invite me. 

For the grave is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. 
It closes on the twilight, it opens on the dawn. 

V. Hugo. 

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 

Phil. 1:21. 

1. It behooves you to never think of non-existence, of 

death—which is absolutely an imaginary thing; 

2. You must never think of that which degrades you, nor 

think of the degradation of the human soul. 

3. You must see yourself ever living, so that hour by hour 

you may advance until the human reality may be¬ 
come more apparent. 

4. And you must thank God that He has rendered you all 

alive and existent. 

5. Consider yourselves as the lights which never have any 

sunset, any setting, an existence which is never non¬ 
existence; a light which is never to be followed by 
darkness. 

6. Verily, if the human spirit will rejoice and be attracted 

to the Kingdom of God, if the inner sight becomes 
opened, and the spiritual hearing strengthened, and 
the spiritual feeling predominant, he will see the 
immortality of the spirit as clearly as he sees the 
sun; and the glad tidings and signs of God will en¬ 
compass him. 

1-6 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


151 


May ,31st. 

Be faithful over home relations; they lead to higher 
joys: obey the Golden Rule for human life, and it will 
spare you much bitterness. 

It is pleasanter to do right than wrong; it makes one 
ruler over one’s self and hallows home. 

Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the 
centre, though not the boundary, of the affections. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

A word spoken in due season, how good is it! 

Prov. 15:28. 

1. Treat your friends and relatives in general with the 

utmost kindness and love; deal in like manner even 
with strangers. 

2. Force yourself to abound in all small offices of kind¬ 

liness, attention, affectionateness, and all those for 
God’s sake. By and by you will feel them become 
a habit of your soul—a habit, more to be desired 
than any other. 

3. For there is nothing which will do so much for the 

life as the forming of the good-will habit, the kindly 
habit, the habit of saying pleasant things about 
others. 

4. The habit of saying kind things to others and about 

them, of always looking for the good in them, savors 
of heaven. 

5. And “unfailing thoughtfulness of others in all those 

trifles that make up daily contact in daily life, sweet¬ 
ness of spirit, the exhilaration of gladness and of joy, 
and that exaltation of feeling which is the inevitable 
result of mental peace and loving thought—these 
make up the World Beautiful”. . . . 

1 Abdul Baha. 2 F. W. Robertson. 3-4 0. S. Marden. 5 L. 
Whiting. 




152 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 1st. 

God will not lay upon man more than right. Job 4:23. 
Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. John 16:20. 

Through the wholesome chastisements of Love, we are 
helped onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, 
and purity. We learn through suffering the greatest lesson 
of life; and it is useless for us “to try to get rid of suffering 
before we have learned its lesson”. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy, H. W. Dresser and C. B. Newcomb. 

Religion must be the antidote for all illness 

Abdul Baha. 

True healing means to trust God more, to love more, to 
become at peace, to get out of self, to understand self. 

It comes by laying fear aside through aspiration, by 
becoming adjusted to the body and to one’s environment. 

H. W. Dresser. 

1. Man is played upon by a stream of events or experi¬ 

ences ; 

2. The Father is present in all these experiences, all are 

meant for man’s good. 

3. But what man makes out of them depends upon him¬ 

self, what he thinks, what motives and deeds he 
chooses. 

4. While he certainly will not pity himself in them, when 

he knows that every moment of his life brings just 
what his development requires. 

5. And that the experience passes just as soon as its 

lesson is learned. 


1-3 H. W. Dresser. 5 C. B. Newcomb. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 153 


June 2nd. 

The Lord is ready to save me. Isa. 38:20. 

When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, 
and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord will hear 
them, I, the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will 
open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of 
the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, 
and the dry lands springs of water. Isa. 41:17-18. 

Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to 
the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. I Pet. 1:13. 

I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. Ps. 52:8. 

1. Ye that fear the Lord, wait for His mercy; and turn 

not aside, lest ye fall. 

2. Ye that fear the Lord, put your trust in Him; and your 

reward shall not fail. 

3. Ye that fear the Lord, hope for good things, and for 

eternal gladness and mercy. 

4. Who did ever put his trust in the Lord, and was 

ashamed? 

5. Or who did abide in His fear, and was forsaken? 

6. Or who did call upon Him, and He despised him? 

7. For the Lord is full of compassion and mercy; and He 

forgives sins, and saves in time of affliction. 

8. Woe unto the fearful hearts, and to faint hands, and to 

the sinner that goes two ways. 

9. Woe unto the faint heart. For it believes not: there¬ 

fore shall it not be defended. 


1 9 Ecclesiaslicus. 




154 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 3d. 

If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will 
pray the Father, and He shall give you another Com¬ 
forter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit 
of Reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it 
seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; 
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 

John 14:15-17. 

Then shall I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye 
shall be clean: From all your filthyness, and from all 
your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I 
give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I 
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and 1 
will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit 
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye 
shall keep my judgments and do them. Ezek. 36:25-27. 

1. If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the 

body, ye shall live. 

2. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 

the sons of God. 

3. For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again 

to fear; 

4. But ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby 

we cry, Abba, Father. 

5. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that 

we are the children of God; 

6. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint 

heirs with Christ. 


1-6 Rom. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


155 


June 4th. 

Since the beginning of the world man hath not heard, 
nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, 
beside God, what He hath prepared for them that wait 
for Him. Isa. 64:4. 

Were man to see the immortal Kingdom and its glory, 
he wortld abandon the mortal possessions of earth. 

Baha’o’llah. 

1. Believe me, to be born a human being is a glorious 

thing. 

2. It is to have had bestowed upon one, for the price 

of a few years of educational probation in the body, 
that individual consciousness that can never die; 

3. And which, once the chrysalis of the flesh is left be¬ 

hind, enters a form so well adapted to its best con¬ 
ditions, that it is self-sustaining, and no longer a 
hamper upon the freedom of the mind. 

4. But respect that flesh! 

5. Respect and honor the splendid environment which 

has been given to your entity upon earth. 

6. Thank God for the delicate yet strong, complex yet 

perfect body which gives expression to your pres¬ 
ent condition of existence. 

7. Conserve its noble energies; 

8. Preserve pure the well-spring of the blood; 

9. Use and never abuse it. 

10. Keep it holy. 

11. Earth is now your God-designed dwelling place; 

12. Your body is the temple of His Spirit. 

13. Live harmoniously within, until you are called to 

your next phase of progressive experience. 

1-13 Cora Linn Daniels. 




156 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 5th. 

1. The happiness of our life depends upon the character 

of our thoughts. And our life is what our thoughts 
make it. 

2. Indeed, “the whole question of living is a question of 

thinking”. 

3. Every thought of yours has a literal value to you in 

every possible way: The strength of your body, the 
strength of your mind, your success in business and 
the pleasure your company brings, depends on the 
nature of your thoughts. 

4. Every one of your thoughts is a part of yourself. 

5. If your thought is despondent, gloomy, jealous, carp¬ 

ing, it repels; if cheerful, hopeful, full of earnest 
desire to do the most good possible to any one you 
meet, it attracts. 

6. Your value and charm for others depends far more on 

what you think, than on what you say. 

7. Let us [therefore] see to our habits of thought. 

8. Let us “resolutely cut off all that leads to death, and 

cultivate and establish such as lead to life, before 
all the habit of thinking kindly”. 

9. Whenever thought is centered upon true and up¬ 

lifting ideals, it cannot fail to be an efficient force 
in regeneration. 

10. Right thoughts and deeds are the sovereign remedies 

for all earth’s woe. 

11. Thoughts are forces, and by them we create ourselves 

and our conditions. 

12. We cannot get away from our thought. We must be 

like it. 

1 M. Aurelius. 2-6 P. Mulford. 7-8 Magazine of Mysteries. 
9 S. D. Kirkham. 10 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 11-12 O. S. 

MARDEN. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


157 


June 6th. 

I trusted in Thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God. 

Ps. 31:14. 

1. Fear, anxiety and uncertainty are not a necessary part 

of your life. 

2. For you are inseparable from the One Great Mind, 

you are one with it, a reflection of it, were created 
in its image. 

3. Therefore, if you yield to fear in any direction, it is 

a test of your understanding and of the amount of 
truth you have. 

4. In all the little every-day experiences, you should learn 

to take hold of the truth, or the God that worketh 
within, in such a tangible manner that you would 
be carried over the trials or perplexities without en¬ 
tertaining a doubt, knowing that the Love which 
casts out fear, is a living, practical reality, not merely 
a sentimental belief. 

5. Learn to wait patiently, trust humbly, depend only on 

this Love. 

6. Seek solely to a God of light and love, of mercy and 

goodness, of glory and majesty, ever dwelling in the 
inmost depth and spirit of your soul. 

7. There you have all the secret, hidden, invisible Up¬ 

holder of all the creation, whose blessed operation 
will always be found by a humble, faithful, loving, 
calm, patient introversion of your heart to Him, 
who has His hidden heaven within you, and which 
will open itself to you, as soon as your heart is left 
wholly to His eternal, ever-speaking Word, and ever- 
sanctifying Spirit within you. 

1-2 0. S. Marden. 3-4 H. W. Dresser. 5-7 W. Law. 




158 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 7 th. 

Before honor is humility. Prov. 15:33. 

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit 
before a fall. Prov. 16:18. 

Woe unto him that is wise in his own eyes, and prudent 
in his own sight. Isa. 5:21. 

Knowledge pulfeth up, but charity edifieth. If any man 
think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet, 
as he ought to know. I Cor. 8:1-2. 

1. Except you be converted, and become as little children, 

you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. 

2. Unless you choose humility and childlike trust in the 

path of the True One, you cannot find everlasting 
glory. 

3. One can never go up, until one has gone down in his 

own esteem. Remember that human pride forfeits 
spiritual power. 

4. And only among the ruins of his pride does man grow 

to be a loving child of the Most High. 

5. It is humility, willingness to learn, which opens one 

to the Spirit. And no one can come to the knowl¬ 
edge of God except through humility. 

6. It is, however, a false humility, whilst we acknowledge 

ourselves unworthy of the mercies of God, not to dare 
to expect them with confidence. 

7. True humility consists in seeing all our unworthiness, 

and remaining abandoned to God, not doubting that 
He can effect in us the greatest things. God needs 
not to find anything in us; He can never find any¬ 
thing but that which He has placed there by His 
grace. 

1 Malt. 2 Abdul Baha. 3 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 4 W. Mount- 
ford. 5 H. W. Dresser and Giles of Assisi. 6-7 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


159 


June 8th. 

Be rejoiced in the glad-tidings of the Lord and trust in 
His great gifts and in the assistance of your Master. 

Be happy and full of cheer through the showers of the 
clouds of paradise. 

Do not feel sorry; do not brood over any loss; do not 
sit down depressed; do not be silent; 

But be happy in spite of everything. 

Abdul Baha and Magazine of Mysteries. 

1. The source of unhappiness and sadness is but a feeble¬ 

ness of soul; 

2. And only a little more courage, a little more trust, a 

little more love, a little more devotion to life, a 
little more eagerness is needed to open wide the 
portals of joy and truth. 

3. Life is a great and glorious venture, and a man may 

rejoice in the mere battle. 

4. It was not intended that he should suffer and be sad, 

but rejoice and forever be happy, buoyant, jubilant 
and prosperous. 

5. “Every hour, every moment”, is, and can be “wonder¬ 

ful, interesting, active, delightful”; 

6. But “one must give all that one [can], share every¬ 

thing, enact one’s full part”. 

7. For “it is in activity, in doing and giving and loving, 

that the joy of life must be sought”. 

I Kothumi. 2 M. Maeterlinck. 3 H. Black. 4 E. Towne. 5-6 
A. C. Benson. 7 L. Whiting. 




160 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 9th. 

Are your feet firm, your spirits rejoiced, your secret 
thoughts pure, your eyes consoled, your ears opened, your 
breasts dilated with joy, and your souls gladdened? 

Abdul Baha. 

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not 
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart 
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27. 

Nothing in the whole world is worth the loss of your 
peace; even the sins which you have committed should 
only humble, but not disquiet you. 

God is full of joy, peace and happiness. Endeavor, 
then, to obtain a continually joyful and peaceful spirit. 

Avoid all anxious care, vexation, murmuring and melan¬ 
choly, which darken your soul, and render you unfit for 
the friendship of God. If you do perceive such feelings 
arising turn gently away from them. G. Tersteegen. 

1. Blessed are they who throw themselves headlong and 

blindfold into the arms of the Father of all mercies 
and God of all comfort. 

2. Nothing remains for them save to know Him better 

and better; no fear, save they be not quick enough 
to see what He requires. 

3. And when you learn steadfastly to put aside all rest¬ 

less, unnecessary anxiety, which springs from a love 
of self very different from true love, you shall have 
attained the very heart of the narrow way; 

4. And lacking in nothing towards God or man, you shall 

enjoy the pure liberty and the innocent peace of 
His children. 


1-4 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


161 


June 10th. 

Make your ways and your doings good. Jer 18:11. 

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that 
is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and 
finisher of our faith. Heb. 12:1-2. 

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, yet not 
I, hut Christ liveth in me: 

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by 
the faith of the Son of Cod, who loved me, and gave him¬ 
self for me. Gal. 2:20. 

We ought not to rest for one moment day nor night; we 
ought not to pollute our pure hearts with the attachment 
of this world; we must prepare divine assemblies, estab¬ 
lish feasts of love, sing the melody of the most glorious 
Kingdom; hasten, dancing and laughing with joy, to the 
altar of martyrdom, and offer body and soul, head and 
trunk, as a sacrifice. Abdul Baha. 

1. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, 

and take up his cross, and follow me. 

2. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; 

3. And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall 

find it. 

4. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole 

world, and lose his own soul? 

5. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 


1-5 Matt. 




162 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 11th. 

Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. 

Ps. 150:6. 

1. Praise belongs to God, the Lord of the worlds, the 

Merciful, the Compassionate. 

2. Him we serve and Him we ask for aid. 

3. For all things proceed from Him; 

4. His power is boundless, His wisdom eternal; His 

goodness endures forever. 

5. Justice and mercy wait before His throne; 

6. And love enlightens His countenance forever. 

7. The powers of our mind are the gifts of His goodness; 

8. The wonders of our frame are the work of His hand. 

9. The Lord is gracious and beneficent. 

10. He has created the world in mercy and love. 

11. So kindly has He suited our duty to our nature, that 

obedience to His precepts is happiness to ourselves. 

12. O, let us praise His goodness with songs of thanks¬ 

giving, and meditate in silence on the wonders of 
His love. 

13. Let our hearts overflow with gratitude; 

14. Let the language of our lips speak praise and adoration. 

15. Let the actions of our life show our love to His laws. 

16. For all that we have in soul and in body, and what¬ 

soever we possess outwardly or inwardly, naturally 
or super-naturally, are His benefits, and they do 
proclaim Him bountiful, merciful and good. 

17. Therefore let us offer thanksgiving unto the Lord; 

18. And pay our vows unto the Most High; 

19. And let us call upon Him in the day of trouble: 

20. He will deliver us, and we shall glorify Him. 

1-2 Koran . 3-15 Kothumi. 16 Thomas a Kempis. 17-20 Pa. 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


163 


June 12th. 

1. Fear not, neither be discouraged. 

2. Use your privilege of fear just so far as reasonable 

judgment tells you it is available to protect the 
interests of yourself and your friends; but having 
used it to that extent, carry it no further. 

3. The moment you do you abuse the gift and deliber¬ 

ately turn it into an evil. 

4. Such fear, this real fear is absolutely needless and 

unprofitable. 

5. Indeed, “worry and fear are great crimes against one’s 

self”. 

6. To fear or to worry is as sinful as to curse; for how 

can one fear or worry if he . . . believes in the 
Eternal Justice, the Omnipotent Good, the Bound¬ 
less Love? 

7. To fear, to worry, to doubt, is to deny, to disbelieve. 

8. Fear is lack of faith, it is lack of trust. 

9. 0 how necessary for everyone is a strong trust and a 

firm faith in God. 

10. How necessary for you to begin the eternal life of 

childlike confidence and trustful consecration in 
the service of God. 

11. Life will hold more to you than you have dreamed 

when, ceasing to be an alien, you return to a life of 
faith, to rest in the conscious nearness and friend¬ 
ship of the Infinite Spirit. 

12. Knowing that God is not afar off, but nearer than the 

closest friend, and that nothing is so abiding sure 
as His love and providential care. 

] Deut. 2-3 Cora Linn Daniels. 5 F. L. Warner. 6-7 James 
Allen. 11-12 J. F. Clarke. 




164 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 13th. 

When men are cast down, then thou shalt say. There is 
lifting us; and he shall save the humble person. 

Job 22:29. 

They also that erred in spirit shall come to understand¬ 
ing, and thev that murmured shall learn doctrine. 

Isa. 2:24. 

Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your 
backslidings. Jer 3:22. 

Let existence be as carnal as it may, the Father cares 
for us all and is present with us every minute of our life. 

H. W. Dresser. 

As His majesty is, so is His mercy. Ecclesiasticus. 
No one save Him who is above all, knows all. 

W. T. Stead. 

If man “has struggled in vain, and his tendency to evil 
and the material has been too strong to build up a sub¬ 
stantial character of good, still God helps—for he is a 
spark of God, and must forever preserve his identity 
intact”. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. God will not compel any soul beyond what He has 

given it; He will make after difficulty ease. 

2. He will work our dreadful failing into plenteous, end¬ 

less solace; 

3. Our shameful falling into high, worshipful rising; 

4. And our sorrowful dying into holy, blissful life. 

5. For He is a God of comfort and love. 

6. Who has loved us, and has given us everlasting con¬ 

solation and good hope through grace. 

1* Koran. 2-4 St. Julian of Norwich. 6 Thess. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


165 


June 14th. 

Prayer is the gate of heaven; 

It is better than food or sleep. 

P. Brooks and Koran. 

Prayer, . . . passively and without words, but full of 
thanksgiving and trust in God, brings new strength and 
help; . . . spiritual energy which would otherwise slum¬ 
ber, does become active, and spiritual work of some kind 
is really effected. O. Hijckel and Anon. 

Nothing in this life will benefit us more than prayer, 
supplication and invocation unto God, and to be, with a 
heart full of love, in constant servitude unto Him. 

Abdul Baha. 

Prayer, coupled with a fervent, habitual desire to know 
and do the will of God, brings all light, leads us into all 
truth. And the more we approach God in prayer, the 
more will He take possession of us, to warn, reprove, 
correct and to enlighten us. Fenelon. 

1. I make it my business only to persevere in His holy 

presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple atten¬ 
tion and a general fond regard for God, which I may 
call an actual presence of God; 

2. Or, to speak better, an habitual, silent and secret con¬ 

versation of the soul with God. 

3. My continual care has been, to be always with God; 

4. And to do nothing, say nothing and think nothing 

which may displease Him; 

5. And this without any other view than purely for the 

love of Him, and because He deserves infinitelv 
more. 

1-5 Br. Lawrence. 




166 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 15th. 

He exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they 
should cleave unto the Lord. Acts 11:23. 

Turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and 
wait on thy God continually. Hos. 12:6. 

Be like an infant, which, being unable to dispose of 
itself, has no will except to love its mother; on whichever 
side it is placed it is satisfied, provided it be in the arms 
of her whom it loves and with whom it seems to constitute 
but one object. As it is not aware of having a will it does 
not make any exertion to unite it to its mother’s, but it 
abandons itself to her care and allows her to will what¬ 
ever she pleases in its regard. St. Francis de Sales. 

1. Renew often within you the feeling of the presence 

of God. 

2. Accustom yourself to carry prayer into your daily 

occupations. 

3. Speak, move, act in peace, as if you were in prayer. 

4. Do everything without eagerness, as if by the Spirit 

of God. 

5. As soon as you perceive your natural impetuosity im¬ 

pelling you, retire into the sanctuary where dwells 
the Father of Spirits; listen to what you there hear; 

6. And then neither say nor do anything but what He 

dictates in your heart. 

7. You will find that you will become more tranquil; 

that your words will be fewer, and more to the 
purpose; and that with less effort you will accom¬ 
plish more good. 

1-7 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 167 


June 16th. 

We know that we are of God. I John 5:19. 

We are the offspring of God. Acts 17:29. 

Being conscious of his unity with God the love of God 
becomes the ruling motive of man’s life. R. C. Eucken. 

0 son of the highest sight! I have placed within thee 
a spirit from Me, that thou mightest be My lover: Why 
hast thou forsaken Me and sought to love another? 

Baha’o’llah. 

The home of His children is in the Heart of God, who 
fills all worlds; realize His sacred presence in the inner 
sanctuary of your secret life, so may you now begin to 
possess Him, whom to know is the bliss of heaven. 

Press onward to the goal, the crown of reward, gazing 
steadfastly on the love of the Eternal Father, till He re¬ 
ceives all those who are perfected by patience into the 
inheritance of the children of God. Anon. 

1. Man’s inmost life is continuous in the eternal world, 

so that even death is an external incident. 

2. He possesses spiritual powers which function inde¬ 

pendently of matter, and enable him to transcend 
conditions of space and time. 

3. Man may abandon God, but God will not abandon him. 

4. There is the throbbing of the Divine life in every 

artery of his corrupted heart. 

5. From first to last he has been a son of God, living in 

heaven, using angelic powers, but he has not 
known it. 


1-5 H. W. Dresser. 




168 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 17 th. 

Whosoever is born of God overcometh the world. 

I John 4:4. 

We must not be attached to anything in the world. It 
is not worth one thought. Abdul Baha. 

He who would attain the higher blessings should wel¬ 
come the opportunities to obey. T. Chase. 

Man in this world must be so attentive for his worldly 
affairs and temporal, necessary pursuits that it may seem 
as though he thinks he is going to live forever in this 
world. x4nd he must, at the same time, be so submerged 
in the love of God and occupied with the thoughts of the 
hereafter that it may seem as though he is going to die 
and leave this earth at the very moment. Mohammed. 

Strive after the things of the Spirit and endeavor to 
attune your heart to the divinely infinite Love. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Take no thought for yourselves or your lives—whether 

you eat, or whether you sleep, whether you are 
comfortable, whether you are well or ill, whether 
you have friends or foes. 

2. For all these things you must not care at all. 

3. You must die to yourselves and to the world; 

4. So shall you be born again and enter the Kingdom of 

heaven. 

5. Behold a candle, how it gives its light. 

6. It weeps its life away, drop by drop, in order to give 

forth its flares of light. 


1-6 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


169 


June 18th. 

Put all thy trust in God, let Him be thy fear and thy 
love: He will answer for thee, and will do what is best 
for thee. Thomas a Kempis. 

Look not beyond to-day, and leave all to God, who shall 
supply all you need, according to his riches. 

In all your undertakings, trust entirely to His provi¬ 
dence; and co-operate gently with it on your side, believ¬ 
ing that, if you have really trusted in God, whatever hap¬ 
pens will be best for you, whether it seem in your eyes 
to be so or not. Fenelon. 

1. All things are ours in proportion to our faith and 

understanding. But we must believe and trust. 

2. In finding God we find everything, but we cannot 

find Him when we are impatient, anxious or de¬ 
pressed. 

3. If we say that we believe in God, and then worry, 

doubt, fear, and return to our selfish life, we do 
not yet possess the omnipresent Comforter. 

4. We must give up all anxiety, and “our lives must be 

committed to the unseen realm with the trust of a 
little child”. 

5. In proportion as we realize love, joy and peace in 

our inner being, the discords of the external life 
will disappear. 

6. God is Spirit and He is Love. 

7. Live with Him, rejoice in Him, surrender your will to 

His will, and Heaven will take possession of your 
being. 

8. But we must trust and rest, and live for the highest 

things. 

9. Only the trusting heart can find peace in Him. 

1-2 T. F. Seward. 3 H. W. Dresser. 4-9 T. F. Seward. 




170 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 19 th. 

We should love one another. I John 3:11. 

He that loveth his brother abideth in the light. 

I John 2:10. 

To think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently 
learn to find the good in all—such unselfish thoughts are 
the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day in 
thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring 
abounding peace and happiness to their possessor. 

James Allen. 

1. If God loves us, we ought also to love one another. 

2. Just as God deals with all humanity—so kindly, so 

lovingly—must we deal with each other. 

3. We must be loving and kind to the human world, and 

compassionate to the race of man. 

4. We must deal with the strangers as we deal with the 

friends. 

5. We must be gentle toward the outsiders as we are 

toward the beloved ones. 

6. We have to know the enemy as a friend, and receive 

the unjust with the utmost love like unto a faithful 
one. 

7. God created all, protects all, provides for all and is 

kind to all; why should we be unkind? 

8. If God had not loved humanity He would not have 

created it. 

9. Creation presupposes love. 

10. God is the real Father; all are His children. 

11. All the creatures are equal in this one family of God, 

save whoever is more kind, more compassionate— 
he is nearer to God. 

I St. John. 2-6 Abdul Baha. 7-11 Baha’o’llah. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


171 


June 20th. 

Exhilarate the hearts through Thy fragrances of love. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth; 

2. And the rain of His infinite mercy refresheth all 

places; the table of His bounty is spread far and 
near. 

3. Just as there comes a warm sunbeam into every cot¬ 

tage window, so comes a love-beam of God’s care 
and pity for every separate need. 

4. And all things proclaim the bounty and love of God. 

5. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory 

of infinite Love fill all space. 

6. An increasing sense of God’s love, omnipresence, and 

omnipotence enfolds me. 

7. Each day I know Him nearer, love Him more, and 

humbly pray to serve Him better, according to the 
abundance of His love. 

8. But I realize that so much greater is Divine Love 

than even the highest human sense can know and 
express. 

9. Yea, human knowledge and thought combined can 

only spell the first letter of the alphabet of His 
love. 

10. For the Creator alone is the one who truly loves the 
creature: And the love of the creature is nothing 
in respect to the love of God. 

L Ps . 2 Sadi. 3 N. Hawthorne. 5-7 Mary Baker G. Eddy and 
Author. 8 Wickliffe. 9 Fatzi. 10 Giles of Assisi. 




172 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 21st. 

Be a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according 
to the power of God; who has saved us and called us with 
an holy calling, according to His purpose and grace, which 
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but 
is now made manifest by the appearance of our Saviour 
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought 
life and immortality to light through the Gospel. 

II Tim. 1:8-10. 

O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: 
it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O Lord, 
correct me, but with judgment: not in Thine anger, lest 
Thou bring me to nothing. Jer. 10:23-24. 

Be not far from me; for trouble is near. Ps. 22:11. 
Learn to bear your own burden, and let nothing defeat 
you. God is your helper. He is invincible; pray for 
strength; it will be given you, no matter how difficult the 
conditions. Abdul Baha. 

1. Never mistrust God, and He will proportion your suf¬ 

ferings to the patience He will give you. 

2. He only who has made all hearts, and renewed them 

by His grace, knows what that due proportion is. 

3. As you learn to worship, praise and bless God for all 

things—to see His hand everywhere—you will feel 
nothing to be an unbearable evil. 

4. And all that is excessive comes, not of God, who never 

lays too much on you, but from your own imagina¬ 
tion, which seeks to penetrate the future, and vour 
self-love, which exaggerates all you suffer. 

1-4 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


173 


June 22nd. 

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High 
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

We will say of the Lord, He is our refuge and our 
fortress: Our God; in Him will we trust. 

Yea, the Lord is our light and our salvation; whom 
shall we fear? The Lord is the strength of our life; of 
whom shall we be afraid? 

What time we are afraid, we will trust in Him. 

In God have we put our trust; we will not fear what 
flesh can do unto us. Ps. 

If we trust, if we expect it, the help will come. 

H. W. Dresser. 

1. Fear and worry are useless. 

2. They are sinful and are foes to the Spirit of the Lord. 

3. God’s providence is both wide and tender, and the 

less we fear, and the more lovingly we trust the 
sweeter will be our life, the brighter will be our 
hope, the fairer will be our general outlook, and the 
nearer will heaven seem to us. 

4. It rests, therefore, with all men themselves whether 

they shall be happy or not, content or not, “success¬ 
ful or not, advance or not, grovel or not, aspire and 
rise or not”. 

5. In the one case they can love God so perfectly as to cast 

out all fear; 

6. In the other they can love earth and themselves and 

what fleeting pleasures they can weakly gain, so 
much, that fear shall dodge and pursue them to the 
very grave. 

1-3 G. II. Hepworth. 4-6 Cora Linn Daniels. 




174 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 23d. 

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, 
and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. 

II Cor. 13:14. 

Verily, God is with us under all circumstances. 

And the Messianic Spirit and the outpouring of the 
Holy Ghost is always manifest, but capacity and ability 
to receive it is more in some and less in others. 

Abdul Baha. 

God appears in the best thought, the truth of speech, 
and the sincerity of action, giving through His pure Spirit 
health, prosperity, devotion, and eternity to this universe. 
He is the Father of all truth. Zendavesta. 

The Christ-like life is a long and continual tendency of 
our hearts toward that eternal goodness which we desire 
upon earth. All our happiness consists in thirsting for 
it. Now this thirst is prayer. Ever desire to approach 
your Creator and you will never cease to pray. 

Fenelon. 

1. Only by the experiences of the soul, only by penitence 

for sin, only by patient struggle after holiness, only 
by trust, by hope, by love, does God make Himself 
known to man. 

2. And to become more and more conscious of His pres¬ 

ence, man must inevitably turn to prayer. 

3. Prayer is the pathway which leads to God and to the 

consciousness of His presence in the life. 

4. Prayer is a means of realization. 

5. Through prayer we are drawing nearer to God; 

6. And the nearer we draw to God, the nearer He comes 

to us. 

1 P. Brooks. 3-4 C. B. Patterson. 5-6 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


175 


June 24th. 

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth 
my soul after Thee, 0 God. My soul thirsteth for God, 
for the living God. Ps. 42:1, 2. 

This is the truth of our soul, and this is her joy, that 
she must ever be growing into God, that all her move¬ 
ments should be modulated by this ultimate idea, and all 
her creations should be given as offerings to the supreme 
spirit of perfection. R. Tagore. 

I have no will but that of God, which I endeavor to 
accomplish in all things, and to which I am so resigned 
that I would not take up a straw from the ground against 
His order, or from any other motive but purely that of 
love to Him. Br. Lawrence. 

The love of God must hold the chief place in the mind. 
It is the highest attainment of man. Spinoza. 

We should love God because He is the Supreme Good, 
and contemplate His eternal nature as the real substance 
of our own soul. Theologia Germanica. 

Knowledge is love. Study, listen to exhortations, think, 
try to understand the wisdom and greatness of God, and 
you will love Him. Abdul Baha. 

Our inmost experience teaches us that love comes infi¬ 
nitely more from God than from ourselves; the love that 
fills our hearts is God’s own creation. Fenelon. 

This is the love of God, that we keep His command¬ 
ments. I John 5:3. 




176 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 25th. 

It is incumbent upon you to turn wholly unto the King¬ 
dom of God, and to make your thought, remembrance and 
effort confined to the education of your character. 

Abdul Baha. 

Whatever occurs to the mind as desirable, must always 
be desired and prayed and worked for in the fear of God 
and with humility of heart. Thomas a Kempis. 

Let us persistently keep the mind filled to overflowing 
with good thoughts, cheerful, generous, magnanimous, 
charity thoughts, love thoughts, truth thoughts, health 
thoughts, harmony thoughts—and all the discordant 
thoughts will have to go. E. Tovvne. 

Be unselfish; have an ideal outlook; see yourself as you 
would like to be, healthy, happy, well-adjusted to life, 
helpful, wisely sympathetic, ever ready with an encourag¬ 
ing word, looking for the good, growing strong in wisdom 
and power; patiently awaiting occasions, yet always suffi¬ 
ciently occupied, so that you will have no time to be 
annoyed, fearful, restless or morbid. H. W. Dresser. 

1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of 

the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor 
sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 

2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His 

law doth he meditate day and night. 

3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of 

water, that bringetli forth his fruit in his season; 

4. His leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doth 

shall prosper. 

1-4 Ps . 1. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


177 


June 26th. 

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust 
in the Lord. Ps. 4:5. 

Trust not to thy feeling, for whatever it be now, it will 
quickly be changed into another thing. 

Thomas a Kempis. 

Simplify your judgment; do not make so many reflec¬ 
tions and replies, but go on simply and with confidence; 
for you there is nothing else in the world but God and 
yourself. You have nothing to do with aught else, except 
so far as God commands it and in the way in which He 
commands it to you. St. Francis de Sales. 

The loves and frets and jars of earth, so real to you, 
are nothing—such petty whorls within a whirl of life 
beginning small, yet stretching far, ringing through space 
unending. Anon. 

1. Peace grows from the life of God in the soul which is 

the same as the life of pure love. 

2. Why should a soul be otherwise than tranquil which 

seeks for nothing but what comes in the providence 
of God? 

3. Let us, then, seek the grace of a cheerful heart, an 

even temper, sweetness, gentleness and brightness of 
mind, as walking in His light and by His grace. 

4. Let us pray to Him to give us the spirit of over¬ 

abundant, ever-springing love, which overpowers and 
sinks away the vexations of life by its own richness 
and strength; 

5. And which, above all things, unites us to Him who is 

the fountain and the center of all mercy, loving¬ 
kindness and joy. 

1-5 J. H. Newman. 




178 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 27th. 

The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eter¬ 
nal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a 
while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 
To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. 

I Pet. 5:10, 11. 

Increase more and more. I Thess. 4:10. 

Unto whomsoever much is given, of Him shall be much 
required: and to whom men have committed much, of 
him they will ask the more. Luke 12:48. 

The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that 
hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. 

Job 17:9. 

From performing just actions a man becomes just; and 
from performing temperate ones, temperate; but without 
performing them no person would even be likely to 
become good. Aristotle. 

Believe that by means of every work, every thought, the 
shortest prayer, wonderful progress may be made; and all 
this brings us ever nearer and nearer to God. J. Tauler. 

It is the little words you speak, the little thought you 
think, the little thing you do or leave undone, the little 
moments you waste or use wisely, the little temptations 
which you yield to or overcome—the little things of every 
day that are making or marring your future life. 

J. F. Clarke. 

Our existence is meaningless if we never can expect to 
realize the highest perfection that there is. R. Tagore. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


179 


June 28th. 

Take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently. 

Deut. 4:9. 

Be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, 
without spot and blameless. II Pet. 3:14. 

What the age needs is time to think, time to meditate, 
time to pray, time, in short, for the Divine and Eternal. 

W. T. Stead. 

What a heavenly potentiality God has deposited within 
you. What a power He has given your spirits. He has 
endowed you with such power that you are able to pene¬ 
trate the realities of things. But you must be self-abne¬ 
gating, you must have pure spirits, pure intentions, and 
strive with heart and soul, while in the human world, to 
attain glory everlasting. Abdul Baha. 

1. You have to work out your own salvation with fear 

and trembling. 

2. Seeking is not sufficient. 

3. It is striving that enables us to enter; 

4. Spiritual attainments open the door to a higher under¬ 

standing of the divine Life. 

5. Let not the life of this world beguile you; 

6. In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must 

deny sin and plead God’s allness. 

7. We must resolve to take up the cross, and go forth 

with honest hearts to work and watch for Wisdom, 
Truth, and Love. 

1 Phil . 3-4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 5 Koran. 6-7 Mary Baker G. 
Eddy. 




180 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


June 29th. 

We must love all for the sake of the face of our loving 
Lord. Baha’o’llah. 

The end of the commandment is charity out of a pure 
heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 

I Tim. 1:5. 

We reach the immortal path only by continuous acts 
of kindliness, and we perfect our souls by compassion and 
charity. Buddha. 

The Spirit’s confirmations are with the soul who utterly 
forgets himself, constantly investigates his own faults and 
defects, loosens his tongue in mentioning the good quali¬ 
ties and sublime susceptibilities of others, does not see or 
hear or speak evil. Abdul Baha. 

By our actions we reveal what is growing in the heart. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. We should go forth into life with the smallest expecta¬ 

tions, but with the largest patience; with a keen 
relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, 
great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the 
friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensi¬ 
bilities; 

2. With an equanimity so settled that no passing breath 

nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; 

3. With a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s 

evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in 
it,—determined not to be offended when no wrong 
is meant, nor even when it is, unless the offense be 
against God. 

4. Know ye not that he who exercises the largest charity, 

and waits on God, renews his strength, and is exalted? 
1-4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


181 


June 30th. 

1. O my God! 0 my God! 

Thou beholdest and knowest 
That refuge or shelter save Thee 
Have I not found, nor shall I find, 

And beside the highroad of Thy love 
No pathway have I ever trodden, 

Or shall I tread. 

2. In mid-night’s dark, fear-haunted vigils 
The moon of Thine infinite mercy 
Awakens and brightens the eye of my soul. 

And when the sun upriseth, 

This withered heart, reviving in the light 
Of Thy perfection. 

In rapture communes. 

3. Each drop though infinitesimally small, 

When assisted by the waves of the eternal outpouring 
Becomes a limitless sea, 

And every atom by a ray from the Effulgence 

Of Thy bounty baptized 

Is as a sun of beaming splendor 

And of power. 

4. Wherefore, 0 pure Creator! 

To this Thy servant, 

Enraptured, afire, 

Grant a shelter in Thy secret habitation 
And make him while in this passing world 
In Thy love and friendship 
Steadfast and faithful. 

5. And in the nest of Thy loving-kindness, 

Amid the branches of the Tree of Spirit, 

To this bird, featherless, broken-winged, 

Grant Thou an abiding place. Abdul Baha. 




182 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 1st. 

From joy does spring all this creation, by joy is it 
maintained, towards joy does it progress, and into joy does 
it enter. Upanishads. 

Joy is there everywhere. It shows that the bonds of law 
can only be explained by love; and that universal Love 
is waiting to crown us with happiness, and to fill us with 
joy, although our individual spirit may not accept it. 

R. Tagore. 

Behold my servant shall sing for joy of heart. 

Isa. 65:14. 

The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in 
believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power 
of the Holy Ghost. Rom. 15:13. 

Joy reigns when all work becomes the path to the union 
with God; when the soul ceases to return constantly to its 
own desires; when in it our self-offering grows more and 
more intense. R. Tagore. 

When we neither care for, nor seek, nor desire anything 
but the Eternal Goodness alone, and seek not ourselves, 
nor our own things, but the honor of God only, we are 
made partakers of all manner of joy, bliss, peace, rest and 
consolation, and so we are henceforth in the Kingdom of 
heaven. Theologia Germanica. 

We may be sure that we cannot be pleasing Him if we 
are not happy ourselves. J. Ruskin. 

0 Thou, by whose name the sea of joy moveth and the 
fragrances of happiness waft; I beg of Thee to show me 
from the wonders of Thy favor that which shall brighten 
my eyes and gladden my heart. Baha’o’llah. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


183 


July 2nd. 

Go on trustfully and without fear. Fenelon. 

Faith has no fear. Anon. 

If there is anything capable of setting the soul in a large 
place it is the absolute abandonment to God. If there is 
anything that can render the soul calm, dissipate its scru¬ 
ples and dispel its fears, sweeten its sufferings by the 
anointing of love, impart strength to it in all its actions, 
and spread abroad the joy of the Holy Spirit in its coun¬ 
tenance and words, it is the simple, free and childlike 
repose in the arms of God. Fenelon. 

1. There is an abuse of fear which should be overcome 

and driven out of every heart; 

2. It is needless fear—fear for to-morrow, anxiety, doubt, 

those forms of fear that almost invariably deal with 
the future. 

3. Men do not fear the past; that is over; 

4. They fear the results of the past as happening in the 

future—results of missteps, errors, crimes, which 
they have not “paid for,” as they call it. 

5. Again, fear is abused instead of used when unfaith 

creeps in, or faith in coming evil hereafter, or doubt 
of God’s eternal mercy and love, or belief in torments 
and everlasting damnation. 

6. Religious fear in any form whatever is the abuse of 

fear: 

7. For there is no fear in true religion, nothing to fear 

hereafter, and fear has no place beside so holy a 
word. 

1-7 Cora Linn Daniels. 




184 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 3d. 

If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, 
and knoweth all things. I John 3:20. 

Two points of danger beset mankind; namely, making 
sin seem either too large or too little. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

You do, indeed, well, if you grieve because of your sin, 
but grieve moderately; for you ought always to believe 
that the power of God is greater in forgiving than your 
power in sinning. Giles of Assisi. 

1. Beware of despairing about yourself. 

2. Face your sins and faults in their true hideousness, 

but do not cease to hope in God. 

3. Wickedness, indeed, condemned by a witness within, is 

a coward thing, and being pressed hard by con¬ 
science, always forecasts the worst lot: 

4. But fear is nothing else but the surrender of the suc¬ 

cors which reason offers. And it is a lack of trust 
and the absence of the confidence which we ought to 
have in God. 

5. For no difficulties in your case can baffle Him. 

6. No dwarfing of your growth in years that are past, no 

apparent dryness of your inward springs of life, no 
crookedness or deformity in any of your past de¬ 
velopment, can in the least mar the perfect work that 
He will accomplish, if you will only put yourself 
absolutely into His hands, and let Him have His own 
way with you. 

7. And the more speedily you do so, the more lovingly 

you turn to God, the more exalted and noble will 
be your blessedness—your everlasting delight. 

1 St. Augustine. 2 Fenelon. 3-4 Wisdom of Solomon. 5-6 Anon. 
7 J. Tauler. 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


185 


July 4th. 

Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: there¬ 
fore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of 
gladness above thy fellows. Ps. 45:7. 

Having chosen our course, let us renew our trust in God 
and go forward without fear, and with manly hearts. 

A. Lincoln. 

Love the truth and peace. Zech. 8:19. 

Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; 
let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind. Let 
him look upon the whole world as his country; and let 
him love all mankind equally. 

Baha’o’llah, Roman and Buddha. 

1. 0 sons of Adam! Close your eyes to racial differences, 

and welcome all with the light of oneness. 

2. Be the cause of comfort and promotion of humanity. 

3. Live among the people a life that will manifest signs 

of God. 

4. This handful of dust, the world, is one home: let it be 

in unity. 

5. Forsake pride, it is the cause of discord; follow that 

which tends to harmony, and be not occupied with 
yourselves. 

6. Be intent on the betterment of the world and the train¬ 

ing of nations. 

7. Consort with all the people of the world with joy and 

fragrance. 

8. Fellowship is the cause of unity, and unity is the source 

of order in the world. 

9. Blessed are they who are kind and serve with love. 

1-9 Baha’o’llah. 




186 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 5th. 

Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the 
Lord of Hosts. Zech. 4:6. 

To seek the Kingdom of God and its righteousness is to 
give up the selfish will and to be true to the Divine guid¬ 
ance in every moment of our individual and social life, 
whenever it comes, to follow wherever it leads, and to open 
heart and mind in unqualified consecration to the Father’s 
work. If you are faithful in these things you shall be so 
tenderly and faithfully cared for that from the hour of 
consecration you need not give secondary things a mo¬ 
ment’s anxious thought. All that you long for will come 
when you lose self, that you may find it. H. W. Dresser. 

Man must be lofty in endeavor. He must seek to become 
heavenly, to become spiritual, to find the pathway to the 
threshold of God, to become acceptable in the sight of 
God. This is eternal glory, to be near God. This is 
eternal sovereignty, to be imbued with the virtues of the 
human world. 

This is boundless blessing, to be entirely sanctified 
and holy above every stain and dross. Abdul Baha. 

Grant me, 0 Lord, to be strengthened with might in the 
inner man, and to empty my heart of all useless care and 
anguish. 0 Lord, grant me heavenly wisdom, that I may 
learn above all things to seek and to find Thee, above all 
things to relish and love Thee, and to think of all other 
things as being, what indeed they are, at the disposal of 
Thy wisdom. Thomas a Kempis. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


187 


July 6th. 

Behold, all souls are Mine. Ezek. 18:4. 

Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is 
no God. Verily, Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O 
God of Israel, the Saviour. Isa. 45:14, 15. 

The Divine Essence surrounds all things. Abdul Baha. 

No good quality or power have we wholly our own, but 
all we possess is God in us. If you or I have any good 
quality or power, where do we get it from? If you or I 
display any love, and feel love, is it not God in us? 

H. W. Dresser. 

1. None of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to him¬ 

self ; for whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and 
whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we 
live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. 

2. His we are, and desire to remain for time and eternity. 

3. We are His property; and He belongs more really to 

us than anything we possess. 

4. For He is unto us even the life of our life. 

5. Let us, therefore, forget all else save Him, and let us 

be comforted by His Spirit. 

6. We are His possession, and His possession shall never 

be destroyed. 

7. Let us abide in our love to Him. 

8. And let us cast our cares into the bosom of so good 

a Father, and suffer Him to do as He pleases. 

9. Let us be content to adopt His will in all points, and 

to abandon our own absolutely and forever. 

1 Rom. 2-3 J. Tauler. 4 St. Augustine. 5-7 Baha’o’llah. 8-9 
Fenelon. 




188 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 7 th. 

Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he 
cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. John 3:5. 

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, 
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. 

I Pet. 2:11. 

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the 
spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

Matt. 26:41. 

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when 
he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the 
Lord hath promised to them that love Him. Jas. 1:12. 

When man in all conditions is pure and immaculate, he 
will become a center for the reflection of the manifest 
light. Abdul Baha. 

Create in me a clean heart, 0 God; and renew a right 
spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; 
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me 
the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free 
Spirit. Ps. 51:10-12. 

1. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the 

world. 

2. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is 

not in him. 

3. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and 

the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of 
the Father, but is of the world. 

4. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof: but 

he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. 


1-4 St. John. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 189 


July 8th. 

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye 
shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and 
my burden is light. Matt. 11:28-31. 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear 
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and 
will sup with him, and he with me. Rev. 3:20. 

We hold back from God, who seeks us but that He may 
save us. Fenelon. 

Grieve not at the divine trials. Be not troubled because 
of hardships and ordeals; turn unto God, bowing in hum¬ 
bleness and praying to Him, while bearing every ordeal, 
contented under all conditions and thankful in every diffi¬ 
culty. Verily, the Lord loveth those who are patient- 
believing and firm. He draws them nigh unto Him 
through these ordeals and trials. Abdul Baha. 

1. Are you utterly helpless, worn out in body and soul? 

2. Then God’s eternal love is ready and willing to help 

you up and revive you. 

3. Are you wearied with doubts and terrors? 

4. Then God’s eternal light is ready to show you your 

way, God’s eternal peace ready to give you peace. 

5. Do you feel yourself full of sins and faults? 

6. Then take heart. 

7. For God’s unchangeable will is, to take away those sins, 

and purge you from those faults. 


1-7 C. Kingsley. 




190 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 9th. 

The leaves of life keep falling one by one. 

Omar Khayyam. 

There is no man that hath power over the spirit to 
retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of 
death. Eccles. 8:8. 

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and 
the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Eccles. 12:7. 

To be near the separation of soul and body, what harm 
is there in this? If you are not near it now, will you not 
be near it hereafter? Epictetus. 

To noble souls, death is the end of an obscure prison; 
to the remainder, it is a trouble—to such, that is, as have 
fixed all their care upon what is but so much dung. 

St. Catherine of Genoa. 

Go, give to the plants and to the waters thy body which 
belongs to them; but there is an immortal portion of thee, 
transport it to the world of the holy. Vedas. 

Examine thy deeds each day, before thou art judged, 
for death will suddenly overtake thee, and then thy deeds 
shall judge thee. Baha’o’llah. 

“The spirit”, having entered the other world, is “con¬ 
scious of his past, the opportunities he has missed, the 
joys he might have had and won, and the approval of God 
which might have been his. . . . Being now terribly 
aware of his ill-spent years, his short-comings, his neglect 
of truth and right, his spiritual deformity in the midst of 
ineffable beauty, [he] so infinitely desires the forgiveness 
and approval of God that even heaven cannot charm him 
until that harmony is established”. Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


191 


July 10 th. 

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the 
issues of life. Prov. 4:23. 

Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adul¬ 
teries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These 
are the things which defile a man. Matt. 15:19. 

Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are 
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are 
pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any 
praise, think on these things. Phil. 4:8. 

It is the habitual, determined thinking arising out of 
settled convictions and opinions which brings results. 

A. M. Crane. 

1. He who would be useful, strong and happy, must cease 

to be a passive receptacle for the negative, beggarly 
and impure streams of thought; and must cherish 
every thought that conveys to his mind an element 
of strength or beauty. 

2. For “man’s only safety lies in [true] thoughts—in a 

spiritual consciousness”. 

3. He, therefore, has to “learn to think the true thought, 

the God-thought of life in everything”. 

4. And has to dismiss the discordant thoughts from his 

mind, and to exclude the wrong thoughts which may 
follow any perception. 

1 James Allen and Anon. 2 L. De Waters. 3 C. B. Patterson. 




192 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 11th. 

The righteous doth sing and rejoice. Prov. 29:6. 

Be rejoiced through the grace of your Lord and happy 
through the bounties of your God, the Most Merciful of 
the merciful. Abdul Baha. 

Everybody ought to be happier than the happiest of us. 
And as we are now living in eternity, the time to be 
happy is to-day. E. Towne and G. Kleiser. 

1. Gloom, despondency, worry about the future, and all 

the discordant passions have to be tuned out of our 
life-instrument before it will express the exquisite 
melodies, the ravishing harmonies which the Crea¬ 
tor intended it to express. 

2. Wherefore keep your mind filled with sunshine, with 

beauty and truth, with cheerfulness and uplifting 
thoughts, and bury everything that makes you un- 
happy and discordant, everything that cramps your 
freedom. 

3. Oh, if you only could know how brief is the span of 

earth’s trials and disciplines when compared with 
the enduring rewards of courage, faith, patience and 
cheerfulness. 

4. If only you could know what hope, faith, courage and 

cheerfulness can do for you while yet in the body; 
if you but understood how these set in motion the 
active forces that make for good; if you but knew 
how through them you attract to yourself beneficent 
influences which make for content and prosperity; 

5. You would turn from your self-pity and sadness with 

a song of joy in your heart and a benediction upon 
your lips for the blessings within your reach. 

1-2 0. S. Marden. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


193 


July 12th. 

Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Ps. 61:2. 
We should not trust in ourselves, hut in God. 

I Cor. 1:9. 

The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the 
whole earth, to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them 
whose heart is perfect toward Him. II Cliron. 16:9. 

I am with you to save you. Jer. 42:11. 

1. What a divine joy would life be could we always 

maintain the consciousness of the Divine Presence. 

2. But are we not apt to forget this nearness, to fear, to 

worry, and to act as though we were quite inde¬ 
pendent of the great Father, without whom we could 
not be? 

3. “The whole universe is ruled absolutely by” Him, by 

“Love, unadulterated Good”; 

4. We “have nothing to fear, nothing to be anxious about”. 

5. And our earnest and constant endeavor, therefore, 

should be to cultivate faith; to fill our mind with 
thoughts of peace, hope, courage and strength; to 
call them to us out of the boundless universe. 

6. They are ours by right, for we are a part of the One 

Life. 

7. These good thoughts are just as much ours as any 

other thoughts, if we will only claim them as our 
own and receive and entertain them. 

8. The very joy of heaven is at our door [in these 

thoughts] waiting to be brought up into our con¬ 
sciousness and made the working principle of 
existence. 

1-2 H. W. Dresser. 3-4 G. A. Kratzer. 5-7 E. Towne. 8 0. 
Huckel. 




194 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 13th. 

The way of transgressors is hard. Prov. 13:15. 

Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give 
account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt. 12:36. 

Exercise thyself unto godliness. For godliness is profit¬ 
able unto all things, having promise of the life that now 
is, and of that which is to come. I Tim. 4:7, 8. 

It is well with them who cling to the good; but they 
who choose the pleasant, miss their end. There is danger 
in even the least of those things man should avoid. For 
whatsoever a man has done, whether virtuous or sinful 
deeds, not one of them is of little importance; they all 
bear some kind of fruit. Upanishads and Buddha. 

1. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with 

them: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 

2. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with them: for 

the reward of their hands shall be given them. 

3. Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that 

doeth evil, but glory, honor and peace to every man 
that worketh good. 

4. For the hand of God is upon all them for good that 

do good and seek Him, but His power and His wrath 
is against all them that forsake Him. 

5. He is with them while they are with Him; and if they 

seek Him, He will be found of them; but if they 
forsake Him, He will forsake them. 

1-2 Isa. 3 Rom. 4 Ezra. 5 Chron. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


195 


July 14th. 

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. 

Jas. 4:8. 

A general rule for employing our time well is to accus¬ 
tom ourselves to live in a continual dependence on the 
Spirit of God and His law, receiving from moment to 
moment what He is pleased to give us; consulting Him in 
the doubts, in which it is necessary to choose our course 
at once; recurring to Him in those seasons of weakness 
in which virtue faints; invoking Him and lifting ourselves 
towards Him when the heart, seduced by sensible objects, 
sees itself drawn imperceptibly from its road, and dis¬ 
covers itself in a state of forgetfulness of God and distance 
from Him. Fenelon. 

1. Let us remember God with frequent remembrance, and 

celebrate His praises morning and evening. 

2. Let us worship Him who originated us, and unto whom 

we must return. 

3. Let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the 

Lord, our Maker. 

4. For He is our God; 

5. And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep 

of His hand. 

6. And every home where God is praised and prayed to, 

and His Kingdom proclaimed, is a garden of God 
and a paradise of His happiness. 

7. All creatures that would be saved must of necessity 

return to prayer in the end. 

8. Yea, would you live happy—happy die, take time to 

pray! 

1 Koran. 2 Badgavat Gita. 3-5 Ps. 6 Abdul Baha. 7 Giles 
of Assisi. 8 Anon. 




196 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 15th. 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not 
yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when 
he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see 
him as he is. I John 3:2. 

The creature itself also shall be delivered from the 
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God. Rom. 8:21. 

Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of 
His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

Gal. 4:6. 

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that 
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor. 3:16. 

Let us become spiritual. Let us become a temple per¬ 
fect unto God. St. Barnabas. 

Thou, our God, art gracious and true, long-suffering, 
and in mercy ordering all things. For even if we sin, we 
are Thine, knowing Thy dominion; but we shall not sin, 
knowing that we have been accounted Thine. 

Wisdom of Solomon. 

1. Great Master, touch us with Thy skilful hand, 

Let not the music that is in us die; 

2. Great Sculptor, hew and polish us, nor let. 

Hidden and lost, Thy form within us lie. 

3. Spare not the stroke, do with us as Thou wilt; 

Let there be naught unfinished, broken, marred; 

4. Complete Thy purpose that we may become 

Thy perfect image, 0 our Lord and God. 

1-4 H. Bonar. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 197 


July 16th. 

Let no man seek his own. I Cor. 10:24. 

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that 
meat which endureth unto everlasting life. John 6:27. 

Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among 
thorns. Jer. 4:3. 

Not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 

I Thess. 2:4. 

Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience 
void of offense toward God, and toward men. Acts 24:16. 

In many things we offend all. If any man offend not 
in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle 
the whole body. Jas. 3:2. 

I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the 
Lord: and they shall be My people, and I will be their 
God: for they shall return unto Me with their whole 
heart. Jer. 24:7. 

1. Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, 

with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, 
forbearing one another in love; 

2. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the 

bond of peace; 

3. For there is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are 

called in one hope of your calling; 

4. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 

of all, who is above all and through all and in all. 


1-4 Eph. 




198 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 17 th. 

Take heed and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life 
consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he 
possesseth. Luke 12:15. 

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be 
content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I 
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Heb. 13:5. 

Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to 
work with your own hands. I Thess. 4:11. 

We ought to weary of the fleeting and false and to 
cherish nothing which hinders our highest selfhood. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

All the treasures of the earth are not to be compared 
to the least virtue of the soul. Socrates. 

1. Cast off whatever hinders, entangles, or burdens you, 

until you attain that which satisfies, beyond which 
nothing is, beneath which all things are, of which 
all things are. 

2. Consecrate existence ... to the eternal builder, the 

everlasting Father, to the Life which mortal sense 
cannot impair nor mortal belief destroy. 

3. Yea, abandon the drop of life to reach the ocean of 

the Beloved One; 

4. Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord, your 

God, and serve Him. 

5. For when you are engaged in useless service the end is 

loss within loss; while the service of the Lord of 
the Kingdom in the end is profit within profit. 

1 St. Augustine. 2 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 3 Baha’o’llah. 4 
Chron. 5 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


199 


July 18th. 

A good time is a pure time, a gay time, a careless and 
free-hearted time, leaving past sorrows and angers all 
behind, forgetting the thing that rankled yesterday, letting 
last night’s dark thoughts drop, not worrying about the 
future, but just getting the best and nicest out of the 
present moment. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. Let us soar up with wings of joy and happiness into 

the apex of exultation and gladness. 

2. Let us warble as birds in the garden of joy. 

3. Let us sing evening and morning, and let song touch 

song all the way through. 

4. Oh that we could put songs under our burdens. 

5. Oh that we could extract the sense of sorrow by song. 

6. True religion is full of hope, sunshine, optimism, 

and cheerfulness. 

7. It is joyous and glad and beautiful. 

8. No goodness that is not happy is good enough for 

God. 

9. Virtue lies in joy, in cheerfulness, in sunshine—not 

in cold, not in darkness, be these without or within. 

10. The attitude of unhappiness is not only painful, it is 

mean and ugly. 

11. What can be more base and unworthy than the 

puning, puling, mumping mood, no matter by what 
outward ills it may have been engendered? 

12. What is more injurious to others? What less helpful 

as a way out of the difficulty? 

1-2 Abdul Baha. 3-5 H. W. Beecher. 6-7 0. S. Marden. 8 J. 
Hinton. 9 S. D. Kirkham. 10-12 W. James. 




200 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 19th. 

God is Love, and when you are lost in love you are 
found in God. W. T. Stead. 

Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed 
and in truth. I John 3:18. 

Every act of good-will brings us into the universal order 
of love. ... To be without love is the crime of life. 

H. Black. 

1. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; 

and every one that loves is born of God, and knows 
God. 

2. God is Love. And love in us is a sparkle of that 

immense and infinite Love of the King and Lord 
of Love. 

3. Love is above all; and when it prevails in us all, we 

shall all be lovely and in love with God and one 
with another. 

4. The meanest man or woman who loves is, so far as 

they love, inspired by the Divine. 

5. The whole secret of the saving of the world lies in 

that—you must have more love—more love—more 
love. 

6. If you can do nothing else for others, think of them 

lovingly; 

7. For the loving thought is an angel of God sent to carry 

a benediction to the soul. 

8. When you think with real feeling and earnestness of 

another’s welfare and long to help him, you do help 
him. 

1 St. John. 2 Anon. 3 W. Penn. 4-8 W. T. Stead. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


201 


July 20th. 

Oh, how compassionate and comforting God is to those 
who go to Him with hearty confidence, who turn to Him 
in their troubles. Men are hard, critical, harsh, never 
more than half tolerant; but God bears with all, is pitiful 
to all; His goodness, His patience and indulgence are 
boundless. Fenelon. 

Let not your hands tremble, nor your heart be dis¬ 
turbed, but rather be confident and firm in the love of 
your Lord, the Merciful, the Clement; turning unto Him 
with a heart cheerfully swayed by His love and kindled 
by the fire of His desires, both day and night. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. Every one of you is dear to God; to the Father, who 

“loves each of us as if each were the only child 
He has”. 

2. He so loves you that He would make all things chan¬ 

nels to you and messengers of His love. Yea, all 
existence He has made to be a book of pages and 
tablets which utter the glad-tidings of the appear¬ 
ance of the Kingdom of His love. 

3. O that you might realize that love; and that you might 

know “the exceeding wonder and glory and infini¬ 
tude of the sense of the realized love of God”. 

4. All that you know of earthly love—the love of mother 

for her child, the love of bridegroom for bride, the 
love of husband and wife—all earthly loves and 
ecstasies of affection, are but as the alphabet of the 
language of heaven; 

5. But the more ideally and unselfishly you yourself love, 

the more you will understand God and have God 
in you, the hope of glory. 

1 Cora Linn Daniels. 2 E. B. Pusey and Abdul Baha. 3-5 W. 
T. Stead. 




202 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 21st. 

Their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. Zech. 10:7. 

Let us rejoice at the thought of that eternal, infinite 
beauty, which is the source of all created beauty. 

L. Scupoli. 

Like the glories of the morning light, spread over 
the landscape for the contemplation of those who are 
prompted to rise early, so are the wisdom and peace, the 
majesty and love of God present each day and hour, each 
moment everywhere. H. W. Dresser. 

The lowliest child of earth may behold the Hidden 
Glory. The tranquil mind, the loving heart, the eye of 
faith, only these are needed, but to a supreme degree 
rarely found in mortals, though quite possible of attain¬ 
ment by consecration of purpose, and sufficient earnest 
spiritual desire and aspiration. M. B. Wallace. 

We should be holy, spiritual, divine, lively, brilliant, 
godlike, sanctified, pure, with merciful character, fluent 
and knowing; and gaze toward the Kingdom of Glory 
with hearts brimming over with the love of God; with 
tears flowing in the commemoration of God, and with 
faces scintillating through the light of God. 

Abdul Baha. 

When man considers the wealth and the marvellous 
sublimity of the Divine nature, and all the manifold gifts 
which He grants and offers to His creatures, amazement 
is stirred up in his spirit at the sight of so manifold a 
wealth and majesty; at the sight of the immense faithful¬ 
ness of God to all His creatures. This causes a strange 
joy of spirit, and a boundless trust in God, and this inward 
joy surrounds and penetrates all the forces of the soul in 
the secret places of the spirit. J. Ruysbroeck. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


203 


July 22nd. 

Be not afraid, only believe. Mark 5:35. 

Be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. 

Matt. 9:22. 

Take heed, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of 
unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort 
one another daily, while it is called to-day; lest any of 
you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 

Heb. 3:12, 13. 

Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he 
that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He 
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. 

Heb . 11:6. 

According to your faith be it unto you. Matt. 9:29. 

Faith is not so much what we believe as what we carry 
out. Abdul Baha. 

Faith is not mere expectation, but present substance. 
To live vigorously we must live by faith. H. Wood. 

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble 
knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, 
fear not. Isa. 35:3. 

Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the 
Lord. Ex. 14:13. 

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait 
for the salvation of the Lord. Lam. 3:26. 

He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. 

Prov. 30:5. 




204 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 23d. 

Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby 
ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a 
new spirit. Ezek. 18:31. 

Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities 
by shewing mercy to the poor. Dan. 4:27. 

Turn again after thy injustice and act aright, and God 
will turn unto thee; for He is forgiving and merciful. 

Verily, He is forgiving unto him who repents and be¬ 
lieves and does right, and then is guided. Koran. 

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso 
confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. 

Prov. 28:13. 

As to the past, there is nothing to be done save to leave 
it to God in humble confidence, and seek to atone for it 
by unremitting fidelity. Fenelon. 

In trying to undo the errors of sense one must pay fully 
and fairly the utmost farthing, until all error is finally 
brought into subjection to Truth. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. Will the Lord he pleased with thousands of rams, or 

with ten thousands of rivers of oil? 

2. Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the 

fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 

3. He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what 

doth the Lord require of thee: 

4. But to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk 

humbly with thy God. 

1-4 Micah . 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


205 


July 24th. 

We pray always for you, that our God would count you 
worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of 
His goodness, and the work of faith with power. 

II Thess. 1:11, 12. 

Let us not forget that no one becomes perfect all of a 
sudden; it is by mounting, and not by flying, that we 
come to the top of the ladder. Let, on our part, medita¬ 
tion and prayer be the two feet we make use of to do so. 

A. Rodriguez. 

We ourselves cannot make us over. 

But God Himself does lead us into the experiences 
which burn out the dross and purify the gold. 

L. Abbott. 

1. The longing to be better and holier, expressed in daily 

watchfulness and in striving to assimilate more of 
the divine character, will mould and fashion us 
anew, until we awake in His likeness. 

2. To cause our regeneration it is, indeed, sufficient that 

we see the beauty of righteousness and desire to 
practice the moral law; almost unconsciously will 
we then begin to realize our ideal. 

3. Meanwhile we may sometimes unnecessarily condemn 

ourselves as hypocrites, when we are, in truth, 
progressing as rapidly as our obstinate lower nature 
will permit. 

4. The new birth is not the work of a moment. It begins 

with moments, and goes on with years; moments of 
surrender to God, of childlike trust and joyful adop¬ 
tion of good; moments of self-abnegation, self-con¬ 
secration, heaven-born hope, and spiritual love. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2-3 H. W. Dresser. 4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




206 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 25th. 

Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the 
punishment of his sins? Lam. 3:39. 

Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the 
cup have assuredly drunken: and art thou he that shall 
altogether go unpunished? Jer. 49:12. 

He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; 
and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bounti¬ 
fully. II. Cor. 9:6. 

He will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints; 
but let them not turn again to folly. Surely His salvation 
is nigh them that fear Him. Ps. 85:8, 9. 

Man has free-will to the extent of non-development of 
his own spiritual powers, and can carry it to such an 
extent that [we] look with pitying horror upon his obsti¬ 
nate depravity, but do what he will, he cannot kill out 
within himself the indestructible germ of spirit, which is 
immortal and eternal. Cora Linn Daniels. 

There is hope for the weakest and lowest. 

R. S. Baker. 

But the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he 
shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Ps. 92:12. 

“The man who builds up the strongest character of 
righteousness in the human life is the man who stands 
highest, has finest powers and noblest joys” in the next 
life. For “the good conditions, the joys which surround 
it, are the outcome of its own righteousness, and abound 
more or less, according to the capacity to enjoy, compre¬ 
hend and make use attained by the living spirit”. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


207 


July 26th. 

Mine eyes are upon all their ways. Jer. 16:17. 

The Lord knoweth them that are His. Let every one 
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 

II Tim. 2:19. 

Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days 
be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with 
them that fear God, which fear before Him. 

Eccles. 8:12. 

The way of the just is uprightness: Thou, most upright, 
dost weigh the path of the just. Yea, in the way of Thy 
judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee; the desire 
of our soul is to Thy name, and to the remembrance of 
Thee. Isa. 26:7, 8. 

Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, 
be strong. I Cor. 16:13, 14. 

The end of all things is at hand: Be ye therefore sober, 
and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fer¬ 
vent charity among yourselves: For charity shall cover 
the multitude of sins. I Pet. 4:7, 8. 

Your share of time, it is but a moment in comparison. 
Why then cannot you manage that little well and be satis¬ 
fied? What are all the revolutions of nature, and the 
accidents of life, but trials of skill and exercises of reason 
that has looked through the causes of things carefully 
and philosophically? Go on, then, like a fire well kin¬ 
dled, which catches at everything you throw in, and turns 
it into flame and brightness. M. Aurelius. 




208 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 27th. 

We were so planned that existence alone should be a 
perpetual joy. O. S. Marden. 

Rejoicing is active blessedness of mind which carries 
intense help to others. M. B. Wallace. 

Be peaceful and joyous; consecrate the simplest duties 
of every day; fill your life with earnest endeavor and 
perfect trust; and no matter how narrow and painful it 
may seem to you, when it is ended you will look back 
with wonder at the influence for good your quiet example 
and cheerful spirit have been. J. F. Clarke. 

To be glad in the gladness of others; to rejoice in 
ministering in every possible way to any need or want; 
to never fail to bring the largest sympathy to the smallest 
trouble; to live in that spirit of thoughtful and generous 
consideration that we may miss no least opportunity of 
service—this is the spirit which creates the conditions of 
power and happiness. Whiting. 

1. O God, refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my 

heart. Enlighten my understanding. I lay all my 
affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my guide and my 
refuge. 

2. I will not be sorrowful and grieved any more. I will 

be a happy and joyful being. O God, I will not 
worry any more. I will not let trouble harass me 
any longer. I will not dwell on the unpleasant 
things of life. 

3. O God, Thou art kinder to me than myself. I dedicate 

myself to Thee, O Lord. Amen. 

1-3 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


209 


July 28th. 

The resuscitation or rebirth of the spirit of man is 
through the science of the love of God. Abdul Baha. 

Love is the way that leadeth up to God. St. Ignatius. 

To love man is to love God, and to be kind to the people 
is to serve God. Abdul Baha. 

Whoso keepeth His word, in him, verily, is the love of 
God perfected. I John 2:5. 

1. The more one loves the nearer he approaches to God, 

for God is the Spirit of infinite Love. 

2. The more you love the more you are like God. 

3. It is only when you deeply, truly love, that you find 

your true selves, or that you see the Divine in the 
person loved. 

4. Love is the fulfilling of the law; Love is the seeing of 

the face of God. Love is God; God is Love. 

5. If you wish to be with God—love; if you wish to be in 

heaven—love; for heaven differs chiefly from earth 
in that in heaven all love up to the full measure of 
their being, and all growth in grace is growth in 
love. 

6. Love! That is the first word and the last word. There 

is none beside that, for God, who is Love, is all in all. 

1 R. W. Trine. 2-6 W. T. Stead. 




210 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 29th. 

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, 
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is 
pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord’s hand 
double for all her sins. Isa. 40:1, 2. 

Lift up your hearts, fear nothing, for His love is around 
you. Anon. 

A mental state of self-condemnation and guilt or a fal¬ 
tering and doubting trust in Truth . . . indicate weakness 
instead of strength. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

All our fears are needless, and not one single human 
hope, expectation or aspiration is half great enough or 
good enough or bold enough. E. Arnold. 

Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth 
the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness, and 
hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, 
and stay upon his God. Isa. 65:10. 

In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct 
thy paths: Be not wise in thine own eyes. Prov. 3:7. 

Commit your way to God, and trust in Him wholly, for 
He brings all to pass. Anon. 

Let all earthly care be as nothing; welcome as blessings 
the evils of life; see in its sadness joy, and in its thorns 
a crown; for by them the hand of God is moulding you 
to work in His higher Kingdom. He purifies by outward 
fire the inward evil. He draws the heart from a world 
of weariness and care, to find eternal peace and rest in 
Him. Anon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


211 


July 30th. 

The Spirit is Truth. I John 5:6. 

Every moment you should be inspired by the deep con¬ 
sciousness of the Spirit; and you should lead a life of 
uncompromising consecration to the highest ideals of love 
and service. H. W. Dresser. 

Spiritual living and blessedness are the only evidences, 
by which we can recognize true existence and feel the 
unspeakable peace which comes from an all-absorbing 
spiritual love. “Spirituality”, indeed, “is the open gateway 
to heaven”. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy and Christian Science Journal. 

In pursuit of spiritual advancement there is peace. 

A. de Koven. 

All that concerns the body, except so far as it affects 
the soul, is of no importance. W. T. Stead. 

Nature striveth for her own advantage, loveth leisure 
and bodily rest, respecteth temporal things, rejoiceth at 
earthly gains, sorroweth for loss, is irritated by every 
little injurious word; doth more willingly receive than 
give; she manageth everything for her own gain and 
profit; for every kindness she hopes to obtain either what 
is equal or what is better, or at least praise or favor—but 
not so Grace which raiseth man from the carnal to the 
spiritual. Thomas a Kempis. 




212 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


July 31st. 

Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves. Ps. 88:7. 
Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my 
soul. Ps. 69:1. 

Redeem Israel out of all his troubles. Ps. 25:22. 
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of 
the countenance the heart is made better. Eccles. 7:3. 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth 
me. Phil. 4:13. 

1. You are in the present situation for a purpose. 

2. Cease to condemn either God or the world, either 

other people or yourself; cease to be distressed. For 
your problem is not greater than you can solve, and 
your burden will cease to be one when you begin 
to discover the rich blessing latent within it. 

3. No burden could come upon you too great to bear; 

for your burdens, if not wholly of your own making, 
are at any rate fitted to the inner conditions which 
invited them, and those conditions are within your 
control. 

4. As your suffering has meaning in the soul’s evolution, 

try to think of the Divine Love as surrounding you, 
working within and through you and seeking your 
co-operation. 

5. Endeavor to accord your life with that enveloping 

love; make its ideals your own. 

6. Lay aside all fear and doubt. Trust in fullest measure. 

7. Let yourself rest in the everlasting arms, in the bosom 

of that tender love. Believe in its power, give all 
problems into its care. 

1-7 H. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 213 


August 1st. 

They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, 
which cannot be removed. Ps. 125:1. 

I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in 
Thy salvation. Ps. 13:5. 

Whatever troubles come on you, of mind, body, or 
estate, from within or from without, from chance or from 
intent, from friends or foes—whatever your trouble be, 
though you be lonely, 0 children of the heavenly Father, 
be not afraid. J. H. Newman. 

1. Allow yourself to complain of nothing, not even of 

the weather. 

2. Never picture yourself to yourself under any circum¬ 

stances in which you are not. 

3. Never compare your own lot with that of another. 

4. Never allow yourself to dwell on the wish that this or 

that had been, or were otherwise than it was or is. 

5. God Almighty loves you better and more wisely than 

you do yourself. 

6. Never dwell on the morrow. 

7. Remember that it is God’s, not yours. 

8. The heaviest part of sorrow often is to look forward 

to it. The Lord will provide. 

9. If we could once realize the wisdom of the Spirit 

that guides us and the force which protects us, we 
could never again harbor a fear. 

10. All our anxieties are trivial in view of the infinite 
provisions for our needs. 


1-8 E. B. Pusey. 9-10 C. B. Newcomb. 




214 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 2nd. 

Hold Thou me up, 0 Lord, and I shall be safe. 

Heal me, and I shall be healed: 

My heart is hard and parched up. Come unto me with 
a shower of Thy mercy. 

Grace is lost from my life. [Fill me, 0 Lord, with Thy 
Spirit.] 

Tumultuous work raises its din on all sides, shutting 
me out from beyond. Come to me, my Lord of silence, 
with Thy peace and Thy rest. 

Desire blinds my mind with delusion and dust. 0 Thou 
Holy One, Thou Wakeful One, come with Thy light and 
Thy thunder. Hos., Jer. and R. Tagore. 

1. Lead kindly Light, amid th’ encircling gloom, 

Lead Thou me on. 

The night is dark, and I am far from home— 

Lead Thou me on. 

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see 
The distant scene—one step’s enough for me. 

2. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 

Shouldst lead me on. 

I loved to choose and see my path; but now 
Lead Thou me on. 

I loved the garish day, and spite of fears, 

Pride ruled my will; remember not past years. 

3. So long Thy power has blessed me, sure it still 

Will lead me on, 

O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till 
The night is gone; 

And with the morn those angel faces smile 
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 

J. H. Newman. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


215 


August 3d. 

Blessed is he who is free from the names, seeking the 
shore of the sea of purity, and loving the melody of the 
dove of virtue. Baha’o’llah. 

He in whom the love of truth predominates, will keep 
himself aloof from all moorings and afloat. 

R. W. Emerson. 

Whatever road I take joins the highway that leads to 
Thee. Zoroastrian. 

God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he 
that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted 
with him. Acts 10:34-35. 

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father 
is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, 
and to keep himself unspotted from the world. Jas. 1:27. 

1. The Lord made some apostles, and some prophets, and 

some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; 

2. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the 

ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 

3. Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the 

knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ: 

4. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and 

fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, 
by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, where¬ 
by they lie in wait to deceive; 

5. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into 

him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. 

1-5 Eph . 




216 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 4th. 

Return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by 
thine iniquity. Hos. 14:1. 

Let them turn every one from his evil way, and from 
the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God 
will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, 
that we perish not? Jonah 3:8-9. 

The good Lord pardon everyone that prepareth his 
heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though 
he be not cleansed according to the purification of the 
sanctuary. 2 Chron. 30:19. 

O remember not against us former iniquities: let Thy 
tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought 
very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory 
of Thy name; and deliver us, and purge away our sins, 
for Thy name’s sake. Ps. 79:8-9. 

Turn us again, O God, and cause Thy face to shine; and 
we shall be saved. Ps. 80:3. 

He “has shown Himself as Father. He has revealed the 
immeasurable suffering which sin inflicts on Love. To 
find the Father—Heart; to cry ‘Abba’ in filial joy; to die 
to sin, and to be born to love, is to be saved”. R. M. Jones. 

Even now He stretches out toward you an arm, which, if 
you only grasp in thankful love, your faith shall strengthen 
while you cling; and it will be from no weakness in that 
arm, if you are not ere long exalted to a point of holy 
attainment, which at this moment you view with despair, 
and by and by to that region of unveiled realities where 
you will ask in wonder at yourself, “Wherefore did I 
doubt?” J. Hamilton. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 217 


August 5th. 

God hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell 
on all the face of the earth, that they should seek the 
Lord, if haply they might feel Him, and find Him, 
though He is not far from every one of us: for in Him we 
live, and move and have our being. Acts 17:27-28. 

God within me; God around me; God everywhere; I 
know nothing but God. J. Tauler. 

Out of the Infinite Thought you came, back to the In¬ 
finite Thought you go, leaving that nothingness which 
soon your material form becomes, and soaring above the 
thing you once so loved. It is as an outcome of thought 
that man exists, and his utter dependence upon thought 
is an idea he would do well to more fully appreciate. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

Thy hearing is My hearing: hear thou with it. Thy 
sight is My sight: see thou with it. Thus mayest thou 
attest within thyself My holiness, that I may attest within 
Myself a place of exaltation for thee. Baha’o’llah. 

1. To be conscious of being absolutely enveloped by God 

is not an act of mere concentration of mind, it must 
be the aim of our whole life. 

2. In all our thoughts and deeds we must be conscious of 

the Infinite. 

3. Let the realization of this truth become easier every 

day of our life, that none could live or move if the 
energy of the all-pervading joy did not fill the sky. 

4. In all our actions let us feel that impetus of the infinite 

energy and be glad. 


1-4 R. Tagore. 




218 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 6th. 

You are to enjoy and spread joy. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. We are here “to have leisure to love things pure and 

beautiful, to be kind and good, patient and serene”. 

2. There should “be an inward happiness”, flowing “out 

to all one’s circle”. 

3. “The one thing to fear and dread” is “harsh, censorious, 

grim respectability”. 

4. “Life” is “to be a smiling, joyful, leisurely, kindly 

thing; not grave, or preoccupied or sorrowful”. 

5. “Grief, pain, loss, disappointment, anxiety” are “to be 

met in the same untroubled spirit, as things which 
. . . come to an end, and yet” has “each a gift to 
offer”. 

6. “The native air of the spirit” is “to be a calm and 

living joy, meeting all with the same eager interest 
and sympathy, not expecting all to be perfect, and 
yet amused rather than vexed at their imperfec¬ 
tions”. 

7. “One” is “to regard even sin as a sign, that the sinner 

had not perceived where happiness lay”, is “grasping 
at something feverish, greedy, unsatisfying, and must 
learn the truth by delay and weariness”. 

8. “One cannot, soaked as one is by habits, faults, fears, 

desires, rise into perfect joy”; but “if one desires to 
be different, one becomes different”. 

1-8 A. C. Benson. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


219 


August 7th. 

Fear God and give glory to Him. Rev. 14:7. 

0 Lord, how great are Thy works and Thy thoughts are 
very deep. A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a 
fool understand this. Ps. 92:5-6. 

Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Al¬ 
mighty; just and true are Thy ways. Thou King of saints. 

Who shall not fear Thee, 0 Lord, and glorify Thy 
name ? 

For Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and 
worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made mani¬ 
fest. Rev. 15:3-4. 

1. Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, 

His work is perfect. 

2. For all His ways are judgment. 

3. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right 

is He. 

4. He is a Power, infinite in resources, incomprehensible. 

5. There is no power apart from God. 

6. And there is naught but what celebrates His praise. 

7. For “who is so great a God as our God!” unchangeable, 

all-wise, all-just, all-merciful; the ever-loving, ever- 
living Life, Truth, Love: 

8. Comforting such as mourn, opening the prison doors 

to the captive, . . . pitying with more than a father’s 
pity; healing the sick, cleansing the leper, raising the 
dead, saving sinners. 

9. As we think thereon, man’s true sense is filled with 

peace, and power. 

1 -3 Deut . 5 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 6 Koran . 7-9 Mary Baker G. 
Eddy. 





220 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 8th. 

Put love and faith and hope and joy into every action 
and every thought. E. Towne. 

We “live in misery, which is the natural, necessary result 
of the absence of God, who is Love”. 

But blessing above blessing it is, when the God of Love 
dwells in the soul, killing every root of bitterness, which 
is the pain and torment of every earthly, selfish love. 

For all wants are satisfied, all disorders of nature are 
removed, no life is any longer a burden, every day is a 
day of peace, everything you meet becomes a help to you, 
when everything you say or do is all done in the sweet, 
gentle element of love. W. T. Stead and W. Law. 

1. O children of men! Since you were all created from 

the same substance, you must be as one soul, walk¬ 
ing with the same feet, eating with one mouth and 
living in one land. 

2. You must all be of one mind, having compassion one 

of another, loving, pitiful, courteous: 

3. Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing; but 

contrariwise blessing. 

4. Knowing that you are thereunto called that you should 

inherit a blessing. 

5. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him 

refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they 
speak not guile; 

6. Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, 

and ensue it. 


1 Baha’o’llah. 2-6 Pel . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 221 


August 9th. 

Where love is there is all. Give yourself up to Infinite 
Love, and you will hear all and understand all. Fenelon. 

Take away love and benevolence, and you take away all 
the joy of life. Roman. 

It is more blessed to love than to be loved. God is Love, 
and to love means to reflect God. W. F. Gross. 

Love is the test, Love is the standard, Love is the mete¬ 
wand of all that is divine. W. T. Stead. 

1. Love is the mystery of the appearance of God; 

2. Love is the divine aspect of God; 

3. Love is spiritual grace; 

4. It is the light of the Kingdom; 

5. It is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the spirit of man. 

6. Love is the cause of the manifestation of truth in the 

material world. 

7. Love is the essential bond of union between God and 

all things in their ultimate reality. 

8. Love is the source of the greatest happiness of the 

material and the spiritual worlds. 

9. Love is the light by which man is guided in the midst 

of darkness. 

10. Love is the means of growth for all who are en¬ 

lightened. 

11. Love is the highest law in this great universe of God. 

12. Love is the cause of life. 


1-12 Abdul Baha. 




222 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 10th. 

The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy. Ps. 119:64. 
Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for His 
mercies are great. 2 Sam. 24:14. 

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely. 

Hos. 1:4. 

The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- 
suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping 
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression 
and sin. Ex. 34:6-7. 

1. The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are 

over all His works. 

2. The all-wise, all-loving Mind surrounds and blesses 

the evil and the good alike with its life and intelli¬ 
gence, knowing that all will gradually grow in indi¬ 
viduality and sometime, somewhere, each and every 
mind will recognize from whence comes its life and 
power, conform to the Divine image that lies latent 
within [and draw nearer and nearer to God], 

3. There is not one life which He ever loses out of His 

sight; not one which sins so that He casts it away; 
not one which is not so near to Him that whatever 
touches it touches Him with sorrow or with joy. 

4. For He is gracious, full of compassion and of great 

mercy. Infinitely greater than human pity, is divine 
Love,—that cannot be unmerciful. 

5. And to the soul that of God’s special grace sees into 

the high, marvellous goodness of God, and sees that 
we are endlessly oned to Him in love, it is the most 
impossible that may he, that God should be wroth. 

1 Ps. 2 W. De Voe. 3 P. Brooks. 4 Ps. and Mary Baker G. Eddy. 
5 St. Julian of Norwich. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


223 


August 11th. 

Fear thou not; let not thine hands be slack. The Lord 
thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He 
will rejoice over thee with joy. Zeph. 3:16-17. 

Flee then to God! Koran. 

To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is 
big with blessings. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. God is the all of love, the whole of science, the all- 

compassing Good. 

2. His treasure is inexhaustible, His power infinite, His 

love immutable. 

3. Be anxious, therefore, for nothing. 

4. Trust Him firmly in all He does or allows, even if you 

are ill, or troubled, or almost in despair of any good 
outcome of a matter; 

5. Lean hard on Him, and be not anxious about anything. 

6. For you stand but totteringly, if you do not cast all 

your anxiety upon Him. 

7. What is asked us is “an unquestioning affection”, a 

simple trust in God, “and His high and joyful inten¬ 
tion toward man”. 

8. “That first, but from” this is “to flow an instant sacri¬ 

fice of all ambition, all desire, all claim”. 

9. We are “to scheme for nothing, call nothing our own, 

give freely and generously, forgive everything, de¬ 
spair of no one, live joyfully and simply where we 
find ourselves placed, not regret the past, not plan 
the future”. 

1-3 H. de Balzac. 4 K. Hilty. 5 Anon. 6 Thomas a Kempis. 
7-9 A. C. Benson. 




224 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 12 th. 

The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; 
but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall 
the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
hath mercy on thee. Isa. 54:10. 

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, 1 
have loved thee with an everlasting love: Therefore with 
loving-kindness have I drawn thee. Jer. 31:3. 

The inseparable, everlasting friend of the soul is God 
alone, who has loved it with an everlasting love, and who 
will abide with it and all of us to the end of the world. 

J. Tauler. 

All are submerged in the ocean of Thy mercy. 

Abdul Baha. 

If I call not Thee in my prayers, if I keep not Thee in 
my heart, Thy love for me still waits for my love. 

R. Tagore. 

Divine wisdom has encircled all, has spread His heavenly 
table before us, and we must take a bountiful share of this 
Divine favor. Abdul Baha. 

Herein is love, not that we loved God, hut that He 
loved us. I John 4:10. 

Those three words, 4 God is Love’ ought to contain, to 
every doubting soul, the solution of all things. A. Craig. 

We are actually killed with God’s kindness, we are sur¬ 
rounded by bounties upon bounties, without which all 
would fall. Should we not love it? Should we not feel 
buoyed up by the Eternal Arms? Anon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


225 


August 13th. 

This is the will of God, even your sanctification. 

I. Thess. 4:3. 

God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holi¬ 
ness. I Thess. 4:7. 

God does love the clean. Koran. 

Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure 
from my sin? Prov. 20:9. 

The goal of human perfection here on earth is to have 
the Divine life so formed within us that goodness and 
holiness become second nature, to be holy even in our 
dreams. Clement of Alexandria. 

A single successful effort of moral volition, such as say¬ 
ing ‘no’ to some habitual temptation, or performing some 
courageous act, will launch a man on a higher level of 
energy for days and weeks, will give him a new range of 
power. W. James. 

If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it 
from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy 
members should perish, and not that thy whole body 
should be cast into hell. Matt. 5:29. 

O God! Sanctify us from all else save Thee; purge us 
from the dross of sins and transgressions and cause us to 
possess spiritual hearts and consciences. Make us severed 
from the world and void of its conditions, attracted by the 
fragrances of Thy holiness, free in heart, happy in soul, 
cheerful in mind, longing for the Kingdom of Thy Beauty, 
and glowing with the fire of Thy love in the world. 

Abdul Baha. 




226 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 14th. 

1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. 

2. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed 

away; and there was no more sea. 

3. And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, 

coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as 
a bride adorned for her husband. 

4. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Be¬ 

hold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He 
will dwell with them, and they shall be His people; 

5. And God Himself shall be with them, and be their 

God. 

6. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

7. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 

nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, 
for the former things are past away. 

8. Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto 

me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 

9. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and 

Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give 
unto them that are athirst of the fountain of the 
water of life freely. 

10. They that overcome shall inherit all things; and I 

will be their God, and they shall be My sons. 

11. And they shall see My face; and My name shall be 

on their foreheads. 

12. And I, the Lord shall be unto them an everlasting 

light, and their God their glory. Their sun shall 
no more go down; neither shall their moon with¬ 
draw itself; 

13. For the Lord shall be their everlasting light, and the 

days of their mourning shall be ended. 


1-11 Rev. 12-13 Isa. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


227 


August 15th. 

Ye are the temple of the living God. II Cor. 6:16. 

If you soar in the holy atmosphere of spirit, you will 
see the True One so manifest above all things that you 
will find naught else but Him. Baha’o’llah. 

The real spiritual life is one wherein every moment is 
lived with a more or less vivid consciousness of what we 
are all existing in. It is inspired by the concrete sense of 
the Divine presence, the holiness of things. It grasps the 
greatest truth of human existence, that is, the fact that 
God lives with us. H. W. Dresser. 

Only so far as [man] relates himself to the Divine and 
receives of the divine energy is he calculated to achieve 
»his purposes. This relation is effected through every up¬ 
lifting of the heart to God,—in prayer, in aspiration, in 
thought, in love. By every means that joins the spiritual 
being . . . with the forces and inspirations of the 
spiritual world, does he receive strength and power. 

L. Whiting. 

The divine life by constant inflow, by sustaining love, 
by guiding wisdom provides all that we need; is most 
intimately near every pulse-beat, every thought and affec¬ 
tion. Not for a moment do we exist without that inflow. 
Entering the soul in the inmost recesses, it tends to spread 
through our spiritual selfhood, into the fulness of the 
mind, into all regions of the nervous and physical systems. 
If we oppose it at the center by fear, doubt, impatience, 
self-assertion, or any of the other attitudes that impede, 
we close the gate at the most unfortunate place. 

H. W. Dresser. 




228 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 16th. 

God is Spirit, and they that worship Him, must worship 
Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24. 

A real spiritual connection between the True One and 
the servant is a luminous bounty which causes an ecstatic 
flame, passion and attraction. 

When this connection is secured such an ecstasy and 
happiness become manifest in the heart that man does fly 
away with joy and utters melody and song. 

Just as the soul brings the body in motion, so that 
spiritual bounty and real connection likewise moves the 
human soul. Abdul Baha. 

The universe thrills with the joy and trembles with the 
bliss of the communion of the child-soul with the Father- 
Soul throughout eternity. 

The ecstasy you have felt of pure and holy communion 
with God is the best reality in all existence, and will for¬ 
ever continue in beauty, purity, joy and uplifting, until 
you disappear in the celestial light whither all souls tend. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. 0 everlasting Light, dart Thou the beams of Thy 

brightness from above, that they may penetrate all 
the most inward parts of our souls. 

2. Purify, rejoice, enlighten and enliven our spirits, with 

all the powers thereof, that we may cleave unto Thee 
with most exceeding joy and triumph. 

3. 0 when will that blessed and desired hour come, that 

Thou mayest satisfy us with Thy Presence, and be 
unto us all in all? 


1-3 Thomas a Kempis. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


229 


August 17th. 

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the 
house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for 
sin and for uncleanness. Zech. 13:1. 

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
his blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God 
and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever 
and ever. Rev. 1:5-6. 

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, 
and blessing. Rev. 5:12. 

God sent His only begotten son into the world, that we 
might live through him. I John 4:9. 

He came and preached peace to you which were afar 
off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both 
have access by one spirit unto the Father. Eph. 2:17-18. 

That he might liberally pour his dear-bought treasures 
into empty or sin-filled human storehouses, was the in¬ 
spiration of Jesus’ intense human sacrifice. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

All the light and love and joy of God have blossomed 
into the manifestation of Christ and become revealed in 
him. 

Love became man and put on our human flesh. 

J. Boehme. 

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now 
ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un¬ 
speakable and full of glory. I Pet. 1:8-9. 

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be 
anathema. I. Cor. 16:22. 




230 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 18th. 

Speak evil of no man. Tit. 3:2. 

1. Breathe not the sins of any one as long as ye are 

sinners; 

2. And judge not, that ye be not judged. 

3. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: 

4. And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured 

to you again. 

5. No man is without fault; no man but has his burden; 

no man sufficient of himself; no man wise enough 
of himself; 

6. Therefore bear, with one another; comfort one an¬ 

other; help, instruct and admonish one another. 

7. Accustom yourselves to withhold judgment in all 

things on which ye are not obliged to pronounce. 

8. Do not backbite and criticise, voicing the mistakes 

and sins of others; have a sin-covering eye. 

9. For God bears with imperfect beings even when they 

resist His goodness. 

10. We ought to imitate this merciful patience and en¬ 

durance. 

11. It is only imperfection that complains of what is 

imperfect. 

12. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet 

we become toward the defects of others. 

13. Certainly, the most hateful characteristic of man is 

criticising and faultfinding; 

14. One must expose the praiseworthy qualities of the 

souls and not their evil attributes. 

15. And we can often do more for other men by correct¬ 

ing our own faults than by trying to correct theirs. 

1 Baha’o’llah. 2-4 Matl. 5-6 Thomas a Kempis. 7 Fenelon. 
8 Abdul Baha. 9-12 Fenelon. 13-14 Abdul Baha. 15 
Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


231 


August 19 th. 

Worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, 
and have no confidence in the flesh. Phil. 3:3. 

Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in 
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and mak¬ 
ing melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks 
always for all things unto God and the Father. 

Eph. 5:18-20. 

God made known what is llie riches of the glory of this 
mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the 
hope of glory. Col. 1:27. 

Good demands of man every hour, in which to work out 
the problem of being. Consecration to good does not 
lessen man’s dependence on God, but heightens it. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

We approach God, or Life, in proportion to our spirit¬ 
uality, our fidelity to Truth and Love. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

A man cannot comprehend the Spirit before he has put 
aside earthly things. Abdul Baha. 

This world is a show without reality and is a non¬ 
existence adorned in the form of existence. Do not attach 
your heart thereto. Do not sever yourself from your 
Creator and be not of those who are heedless. 

Baha’o’llah. 

None of these things move me, neither count I my life 
dear unto myself, so that 1 might finish my course with 
joy. Acts 20:24. 

God and heaven, or Life, are present, . . . now and 
here; and a change in human consciousness, from sin to 
holiness, would reveal this wonder of being. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




232 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 20th. 

Rejoice not if fortune smile upon you, and if humility 
overtake you, mourn not because of it, for in their time, 
they both shall cease and be no more. 

To be despondent when outward circumstances seem 
against you is unreasonable; for your soul lives forever, 
but the outward cicumstances are always transient. 

Baha’o’llah, Author and Cora Linn Daniels. 

Be patient in time of affliction and trial; endure every 
difficulty and hardship with a dilated heart, attracted 
spirit and eloquent tongue in remembrance of the Merci¬ 
ful. Abdul Baha. 

Troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, 
but not in despair; persecuted, but not feeling forsaken: 
cast down, but not destroyed; bearing about in the body 
the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the life also of 
Jesus Christ be made manifest in your body. II Cor. 4:7-8. 

Receive every inward and outward trouble, every disap¬ 
pointment, pain, uneasiness, temptation, darkness and 
desolation with both your hands, as a true opportunity 
and blessed occasion of dying to yourself and entering 
into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. W. Law. 

Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not 
God. Ps. 55:10. 

1. Man must endure, if he would obtain treasure. 

2. Unless the friends are self-sacrificing wonderful signs 

will not become manifest. 

3. Easy living is conducive to coldness, and tranquillity 

and comfort causes the light to be extinguished. 

1-3 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


233 


August 21st. 

Where is God, my Maker, who giveth songs in the 
night? Job 35:10. 

I, even I, am He that comforteth you: Who art thou, 
that thou shouldest he afraid of a man that shall die, 
and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; 

And forgettest the Lord, thy Maker, that hath stretched 
forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; 
and hast feared continually every day because of the fury 
of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? 

Isa. 51:12. 

Reduce all conduct, all life to co-operation with God. 
Drop all anxiety, cease all efforts to shape things in your 
own way; trust wholly, at large, and in detail. 

H. W. Dresser. 

Look up and be fearless, for . . . all is fair ahead 
and all is well. G. V. Owen. 

1. God stands waiting for you to trust and love Him, 

while He is ordering all things for your best. 

2. For nothing is too little to be ordered by Him; 

3. And nothing too big to be entrusted to Him; 

4. Cleanse, therefore, your heart from doubtfulminded¬ 

ness, and put on faith; trust God that He will lead 
you right, and that you will receive all the petitions 
which you ask. 

5. Cast not away your confidence; but in all things have 

faith. 

1 Anon. 2 E. B. Pusey. 4 St. Hermas. 5 Heb . 




234 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 22nd. 

I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the in¬ 
habitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplica¬ 
tions. Zech. 12:10. 

O children of men! Look to His face, and turn from all 
save Him. For His mercy for you is ample, and cannot 
be ignored. His love in you exists, and cannot be con¬ 
cealed. Baha’o’llah. 

1. All along the line of your experiences . . . Almighty 

Love is working ceaselessly to manifest itself to you. 

2. Through whatever you come, it overcomes, and goes 

with you by day and by night to show the way in 
which you are going steadily toward God. Nothing 
can thwart its mighty purpose, turn it side, prevent 
it from blessing you. 

3. “Even in” your “hours of darkest blindness” you “never 

stray out of the reach of this guiding and saving 
Hand”, the oversight of the Divine Spirit. 

4. For the Spirit is present with every soul, perfecting it. 

It is never absent, even from those we deem most 
wicked. 

5. It is moving over all with its mystic inspiration every 

hour. 

6. As one may have all the air that he is able to breathe, 

so may one have all the aid of the Holy Spirit which 
he is capable of receiving. 

7. Man can never accept so gladly and so freely as God 

offers; but in just the proportion to which he can, 
increasingly, lift up his heart in response, to that 
degree God fdls his life with a glory not of earth. 

1-2 U. N. Gestefeld. 3 A. C. Benson. 4 H. W. Dresser. 5 F. 
W. Robertson. 6-7 L. Whiting. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


235 


August 23d. 

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil. Ps. 97:10. 

Hate the evil and love the good. And do that which is 
right and good in the sight of the Lord. Amos and Deut. 

Follow the best of what has been sent down to you from 
Him. Have no ambition, affection, nor aim apart from 
holiness. Koran and Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. The divine must overcome the human at every point. 

2. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike 

good. 

3. Never, even in a dream, be guilty of theft, adultery, 

drunkenness, life-slaughter and untruthfulness. 

4. Never cherish a thought of which you ought to be 

ashamed; never utter a word for which you have to 
ask God’s pardon; never do a thing concerning the 
rectitude of which you are in doubt. 

5. Keep simplicity and be guileless; be as a child, that 

knows not the wickedness which destroys the life of 
men. 

6. Be as a spotless lily, unsoiled by the mire in which it 

grows. 

7. Flee youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, 

charity, peace. 

8. He whose heart is pure and good, who is without pride, 

is mild, persevering, simple and plain; who con¬ 
siders every creature as his friend, and who loves 
every soul as his own; who behaves uniformly to 
every one with kindness and love; who wishes to do 
good, and has abandoned vanity,—in his heart re¬ 
sides the Lord of life. 

1-2 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 3 Buddha. 4 Kali and Pliny. 5 St. 
Hermas. 6 Buddha. 7 Tim . 8 Purana. 




236 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 24th. 

We are from Thee and we wish for naught else save 
Thee. Give Thou the sweets to those who have not tasted 
the ecstasy of love. Baha’o’llah. 

Woe to the soul shut up, straitened and chilled in itself, 
which fears everything, and which through fear and 
ignorance has no time to love. Fenelon. 

That soul is alone that is negligent of God. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. The Holy Spirit cries in us with a loud voice and with¬ 

out words, “Love the Love which loves you ever¬ 
lastingly”; 

2. “Pay your debt; love the Love which has loved you 

from all eternity.” 

3. 0 that we might find this love to God! 

4. It is the love that God has for us that gives us all; but 

the greatest gift that He can grant us, is to give us 
the love that we ought to have for Him. 

5. When God loves us so far as to cause us to love Him, 

He reigns in us; He becomes our life, our peace, our 
happiness, and we begin already to live His blessed 
life. 

6. In this love there is no fear; for perfect love casteth 

out fear. And oh, how much better it is to love 
than to fear! 

7. Fear constrains, fetters, perplexes one: but love per¬ 

suades, comforts, inspirits, expands the soul. 

8. If we, therefore, begin with a fear which subdues the 

flesh, we must reach out to that love which com¬ 
forts the soul. And a good and faithful friend we 
will find in God, if we will but form a sincere, stead- 
fast love and friendship with Him. 

1-2 J. Ruysbroeck. 4-8 Fenelon. 





THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


237 


August 25th. 

Every moment and every age, every day and every night 
He comes, comes, ever comes. R. Tagore. 

Thou Self-revealing One, reveal Thyself in me. 

Upanishads. 

Speak to Him, thou, for He heareth, 

And Spirit and spirit can meet. 

Closer is He than breathing, 

And nearer than hands and feet. A. Tennyson. 
He is always within us as near to the heart of our being 
as the light is to the eye. Conscience is the witness of 
His continual presence; the drawing which we feel toward 
higher things is born in the unlost image of God. He 
labours unceasingly to be born in us, to bring forth His 
love and His spiritual Kingdom in the domain of our own 
spirits; that we may die to the flesh and to the narrow 
will of the self, become alive to the Spirit and Word of 
God in our soul, and enter in and participate in that 
eternal love with which He loves us. J. Buenderlin. 

We are Thine. Isa. 63:19. 

1. God mingles with humanity as the salt with the sea, 

as the perfume with the flower. 

2. You seek Him at a distance, not knowing that He is 

near. 

3. You seek Him abroad, and, behold, He is within you. 

4. He is truly your own, who is not only with you and 

near you, but in you. 

5. But it is not enough that God is in you; you must 

also be in God, that is, partake of the life of God. 

1 Tertullian. 2-3 St. Augustine. 4 St. Bernard. 5 H. Denck. 




238 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 26 th. 

Be happy! Above all things be happy, and only thus 
be wise. St. Francis de Sales. 

The soul of man must be happy, no matter where he is. 

Abdul Baha. 

In this day no one must cry for any reason, nay, rather, 
we must be very happy and contented with our lot, and 
know of a certainty that the Lord of Hosts is with us, 
ready to restore our health and alleviate our burden. We 
must not let anything disturb the balance of our minds. 
Under all circumstances we must control our feeling, and 
curb our inclinations. We must fulfill our duty, attain to 
the highest station of perfection, and close our eyes to all 
imperfections. Abdul Baha. 

We are here ... to learn rather than to teach, to 
endure rather than to act, to be slain rather than to slay; 
we are tolerated in our errors and our hardness, in our 
conceit and our security, by the great, kindly, smiling 
Heart that bade us be. We can make things a little easier 
for ourselves and each other; but the end is not there: 
What we are meant to become is joyful, serene, patient, 
waiting momently upon God; we are to become, if we 
can, content not to be content, full of tenderness and 
lovingkindness for all the frail beings that, like ourselves, 
suffer and rejoice. A. C. Benson. 

Out of the silence and nothingness we arise; we have 
our short space of sight and hearing; and then in the 
silence we depart. But in that interval we are surrounded 
by much joy. . . . If we could be more calm and quiet, 
less anxious about the impression we produce, more quick 
to welcome what is glad and sweet, more simple, more 
contented, what a gain would be there! A. C. Benson. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


239 


August 27th. 

Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good. 

II Chron. 19:11. 

Let us trust in God and put our confidence in Him, 
who is often nearest unto us when we think ourselves 
farthest off from Him. Thomas a Kempis. 

God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellow¬ 
ship of His son Jesus Christ our Lord. I Cor. 1:9. 

Let us open our hearts; let us open them without mea¬ 
sure, that God and His love may enter into them without 
measure, like a flood. Let us fear nothing in the path we 
are walking. God will lead us as if by the hand, pro¬ 
vided we do not doubt, and we are more filled with His 
love, than with fear with reference to ourselves. Fenelon. 

1. Pray more and worry less. Yea, turn anxiety to prayer. 

2. Fear and worry and all kindred mental states are too 

expensive for any person, man, woman, or child to 
entertain or indulge in. 

3. Fear paralyzes healthy action, worry corrodes and 

pulls down the organism, and will finally tear it to 
pieces. 

4. Nothing is to be gained by it, but everything to be lost. 

5. Verily, “to worry is wicked”. And a child of God 

would as soon curse as worry. It is doubting God. 

6. Fearthought, worry, jealousy, distrust, and all the forms 

of pessimism are the sewage of thought. 

7. And the mind that is full of fear, worry, hate [and 

other evil,] is a perennial source of disease. 

8. Cheerfulness, kindness, service, love, goodness . . . 

make the nature expand and release the healing 
power. 

1 D. L. Moody and E. Towne. 2-4 R. W. Trine. 5 Anon and J. 
Wesley. 6-8 H. Fletcher. 




240 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 28th. 

1. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; 

2. Charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is 

not puffed up; 

3. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, 

is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 

4. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 

5. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 

things, endureth all things. 

6. Charity rooteth out the love of self. 

7. It practiseth the art of giving up. 

8. It seeketh for others the happiness it desireth for 

itself. 

9. Charity maketh the best construction of all things 

and persons; excuseth weakness, entenuateth mis¬ 
carriage, forgiveth everybody, and serveth all. 

10. It doth not make life hard for any; 

11. But is always doing good to those around it. 

12. It maketh things pleasant for others. 

13. Charity is watchful for an opportunity to help. 

14. It is loving to every afflicted one, a dispeller of sor¬ 

rows to every grieved one, a refuge to every fearful 
one, a heavenly food for every destitute one, a balm 
to every wounded one, a consolation to dejected 
hearts, a blessing to unfortunate souls, a treasure 
to every begging one and a succor to every lament¬ 
ing one. 

15. Charity speaketh not evil of another. 

16. It covereth all sins. 

17. Charity is kind to all that liveth; 

18. And it livelh only to help others. 

1-5 Cor . 6-8 Buddha. 9 W. Penn. 10 R. W. Emerson. 11 Bud¬ 
dha. 12 E. Towne. 14 Abdul Baha. 15 Jas . 16 Prov . 17 
Buddha. 18 Milinda. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


241 


August 29th. 

Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he 
fall. I Cor. 10:12. 

We must be humble and meek, active and progressive, 
wideawake and thoughtful, true and sincere, noble and 
good, straightforward and zealous. This is .the outcome 
of life. This is the result of ceaseless endeavor. This is 
the prize to be won. This is eternal life. Abdul Baha. 

Verily, unless a man be elevated in spirit, freed from 
all creatures, and wholly united unto God, whatsoever he 
knoweth and whatsoever he hath, is of no great weight. 

And he can only become good in so far as he becometh 
humble, unselfish, in all things turning from self to God. 

Thomas a Kempis and Fenelon. 

1. Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he 

that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

2. For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the 

humble. 

3. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. 

4. Seek humility; let it be the hidden man of the heart, 

in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament 
of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of 
God of great price. 

5. Let, therefore, not the wise man glory in his wisdom, 

neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let 
not the rich man glory in his riches. 

6. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he under- 

standeth and knoweth God, that He is the Lord who 
exerciseth loving-kindness, judgment and righteous¬ 
ness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith 
the Lord. 

1-2 Luke. 3 Jas. 4 Pet. 5-6 Jer. 




242 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


August 30th. 

Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. I John 2:12. 

Waste no tears 

Upon the blotted record of past years, 

But turn the leaf and smile; 

Oh, smile to see 

The fair, white pages that remain for thee. Anon. 

1. It brings neither peace nor strength to brood and worry 

over the mistakes you have made. 

2. Accept their lessons, forget them, if you can, and turn 

your face towards the rising sun. 

3. There is nothing more depressing than dwelling upon 

one’s mistakes, upon lost opportunities or a mis¬ 
spent life. 

4. Whatever your past has been, forget it: If it throws a 

shadow upon the present, or causes melancholy or 
despondency, there is nothing in it which helps 
you; there is no single reason why you should retain 
it in your memory. 

5. If you would have the present full of light and joy, 

do not darken it with the shadows of your yester¬ 
days. 

6. Be joyful, therefore, and commit yourself and all to 

the Lord; He will unravel the mess you made of 
your life. 

7. He will heal all the havoc that your sins have made, 

and even if you have succeeded in corrupting all the 
energies of your body and mind, only flee confidently 
to Him, the Holy and Pure One, in whom is no 
frailty, and who loves you more than you love your¬ 
self. 


1-2 Anon. 3-4 0. S. Marden. 5 S. Greenwood. 6-7 J. Tauler. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


243 


August 31st. 

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of 
God. Rom. 10:17. 

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Rom. 14:23. 

The just shall live by faith. Heb. 10:38. 

God sends down His tranquillity into the hearts of the 
believers that they might have faith added to their faith. 

Koran. 

Acquiesce calmly and in the spirit of faith, and do not 
give ear to your own imaginations. Provided you will 
yield meekly, and gradually regain peace through recol¬ 
lection, everything will be achieved by degrees. 

Fenelon. 

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove 
your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that 
Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 

II Cor. 13:5. 

May the communication of thy faith become effectual 
by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you 
in Christ Jesus. Philemon 6. 

1. Live your life in faith, not in fear. 

2. We make our life complex and hard to live by depart¬ 

ing from the great essential things of life, and living 
in the non-essentials. 

3. All desire for real development in life must be directed 

toward the awakening of faith, as well as of hope 
and love. 

4. These three are the essential attributes of the soul, and 

have their source in God. 

I H. Binns. 2-4 C. B. Patterson. 




244 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 1st. 

To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of 
a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. Isa. 66:2. 

It is no such heinous matter to fall afflicted, as being 
down to lie dejected. St. Chrysostom. 

It seldom happens that one achieves anything great 
without having fallen into the deep mire. J. Tauler. 

1. Beyond merely the sincere desire always to do that 

which is best in God’s sight, you must further have 
the will to do it cheerfully; 

2. You must not be depressed when you fail, but begin 

again a hundred times over, must hope to the end for 
success, must bear with yourself in your involuntary 
frailties as God bears, and must wait patiently for 
His appointed time of complete deliverance; 

3. Meanwhile go on quietly and according to your 

strength in the path before you without losing time 
in looking back; always reaching forth unto those 
things which are before, not dwelling unprofitably 
upon depressing falls and hindrances; sorrowing 
over them, indeed, with humility, but putting them 
aside to press onward. 

4. Despondency is not a state of humility; on the con¬ 

trary, it is the vexation and despair of a cowardly 
pride—nothing is worse; whether we stumble or 
whether we fall, we must only think of rising again 
and going on in our course. 

5. Our faults may be useful to us if they cure us of a vain 

confidence in ourselves, and do not deprive us of 
our humble and salutary confidence in God. 

1-5 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 245 


September 2nd. 

The least act is the greatest and the greatest least to 
those who only live for good. Cora Linn Daniels. 

Just to be tender, just to be true, 

Just to be glad the whole day through, 

Just to be merciful, just to be mild, 

Just to be trustful with faith like a child; 

Just to be gentle and kind and sweet, 

Just to be helpful with willing feet; 

Just to be cheery when things go wrong; 

Just to drive sadness away with a song, 

Whether the hour is dark or bright. 

Just to be loyal to good and right; 

Just to believe that God knows best, 

Just in His promises ever to rest— 

Just to let love sound its sweetest key, 

That is God’s will for you and for me. Anon. 

1. Do not seek the honors and loves of this world; seek 

rather God and His love, and then the honors and 
loves which belong to Him will be yours. 

2. All the glory of the heavens is His, all the beauty of 

the flowers, the scent of the roses and the colors of 
the sunset. 

3. But more than this, the beauty of the soul is His, so 

that when you look long upon His beauty, it takes 
many forms and reappears in your consciousness in 
many figures. 

4. But all other beauty fades and disappears, all other 

honor but His becomes insignificant, all other love 
but His is undesirable. 


1-4 Abdul Baha. 




246 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 3d. 

Every thought is a power, make it a power for good. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

One thought borne inward, one prayer uplifted, one 
echo of the Word within us, and our souls are forever 
changed. H. de Balzac. 

Is it not true that when we are following the highest 
thought which comes to us, and take a firm stand in the 
way of obedience, the mortal thought is silenced for us. 

F. Van Der Burgh. 

It is a question whether our thoughts, our fear and 
painful sensations, and the mental influences by which 
we are environed shall control us or whether we shall 
control them. H. W. Dresser. 

1. Projecting yourself by means of your thought, you 

may enter the stratum of misery and foreboding and 
inevitably absorb and retain the forces which that 
stratum of thought holds. 

2. Projecting yourself by means of your thought you may 

enter the realm of luxurious, artistic, refined, culti¬ 
vated thoughts, and instantly absorb and retain for 
yourself some portion of the forces of those strata. 

3. Seek poverty and sorrow in your thought, and you 

become just so much poorer and more sorrowful in 
actual being. 

4. Seek a successful stratum, carry will with your thought, 

take attention and attraction on either hand, and 
you enter the stratum of well-being; and the longer 
you exercise the forces of will, attention and 
attraction in this stratum, the more you absorb and 
retain of its beneficial sway. 

1-4 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


247 


September 4th. 

There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all 
things, and we in Him. I Cor. 8:6. 

Verily, the Kingdom of heaven is within you, and who¬ 
ever knoweth himself shall find it. Strive* therefore, to 
know yourselves, and ye shall be aware that ye are the 
sons of the Divine Father. Jesus. 

You have no selfhood, really; you are you, only because 
God has permitted a part of Himself to enter an indi¬ 
vidual form. Your selfhood consists in being endowed 
with an individuality of thought different from other 
individualities of thought, but should He recall that en¬ 
dowment you would become no longer a self, but selfless 
in Him. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. There is but one thing needful—that is to possess God. 

2. And all our senses, all our powers of mind and soul, 

all our external resources, are so many ways of ap¬ 
proaching God, so many ways of tasting and of 
adoring Him. 

3. We must learn to detach ourselves from all that is 

capable of being lost, to bind ourselves absolutely 
only to what is absolute and eternal, and to enjoy 
the rest as a loan. 

4. Let come what will—even death; only let us be at 

peace with self, let us live in the presence of God, 
in communion with Him, and let us leave the guid¬ 
ance of existence to those universal powers against 
whom we can do nothing. 

5. As it is impossible to be outside God, the best is con¬ 

sciously to dwell in Him. 

1-5 H. F. Amiel. 





248 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 5th. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wis¬ 
dom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms 
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your 
heart to the Lord. And whatever ye do in word or deed, 
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to 
God and the Father by Him. Col. 3:16-17. 

The unhappy are always wrong; wrong in being so, 
wrong in saying so, wrong in needing help of others. 

0. S. Marden. 

All usefulness and all comfort may be prevented by an 
unkind, a sour, crabbed temper of mind,—a mind that 
can bear with no difference of opinion or temperament. 

A spirit of faultfinding; an unsatisfied temper; a con¬ 
stant irritability, little inequalities in the look, the temper 
or manner; a brow cloudy and dissatisfied will more than 
neutralize all the good you can do, and render life any¬ 
thing but a blessing. W. Barnes. 

1. Never be depressed; but be cheerful—be joyful! Never 

despair! Fear nothing but cowardice. 

2. Cultivate hope, faith, and trust; they are the tonics of 

the mind. 

3. To remain young, to remain a child even, in the spon¬ 

taneity and tenderness of the heart; to preserve ever, 
not only in the outer behaviour, but in the inner 
life, a certain lightness, a certain elasticity—this is 
the best way to rule our lives. 

1 Anon, and D. S. Sager. 2 W. A. Spinney. 3 Mme. Guyon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


249 


September 6th. 

Whatever happens at all, happens as it should. 

M. Aurelius. 

Whatever may happen is good, whatever may happen is 
the bounty of God, the Most High. Abdul Baha. 

The ways of the Lord are right; His ways are ever¬ 
lasting. Hosea and Habbakuk. 

The events that befall us we shall accept as good, know¬ 
ing that nothing happens without God. 

The Teachings of the Apostles. 

Man’s goings are of the Lord, how can a man then 
understand his own way? Verily, he deviseth his way: 
but the Lord directeth his steps. Prov. 16:9. 

God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son 
of man, that He should repent: Hath He said, and shall 
He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make 
it good? Num. 23:19. 

1. We are living in God’s spiritual universe, [where He is 

Ruler and Lord, and] where exactly the right thing 
invariably occurs at exactly the right moment. 

2. Let us, therefore, try not to fear, not to worry, not to 

vex ourselves with forestalling the future any more 
than with fretting over the past. 

3. Let us esteem what God wills better than what we will. 

To Him let us yield ourselves as servants and fol¬ 
lowers. Our pursuits, our desires, our very will must 
coincide with His. 

4. Let us each day place our entire life into His hands. 
1 T. F. Seward. 2 Fenelon. 3 Epictetus. 





250 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 7th. 

Lord, for to-morrow and its needs I do not pray; 

Keep me from stain of sin,—just for to-day. 

Let me both diligently work and daily pray; 

Let me be kind in word and deed—just for to-day; 

Let me be slow to do my will—prompt to obey: 

Help me to sacrifice myself—just for to-day. 

Let me no wrong nor idle word unthinking say; 

Set Thou a seal upon my lips—just for to-day. 

So for to-morrow and its needs I do not pray; 

But keep me, guide me, hold me, Lord, just for to-day. 

W. WlLBERFORCE. 

1. You must live above the flesh in the consciousness of 

God’s presence, ever faithful to the highest you know. 

2. Every moment of existence must be a worship, every 

activity must be dedicated to the right. 

3. If you expect to make the most of yourself, you must 

take yourself in hand, and, no matter how disagree¬ 
able or hard it may be, discipline yourself to do the 
right thing always, the wisest thing, and not let 
yourself off with the easy thing or allow yourself to 
do a thing the wrong way. 

4. Daily you have to renew your purposes, and stir up 

yourself to greater fervor. And according to your 
purpose shall be the success of your profiting. Much 
diligence is necessary to you if you want to profit 
much; 

5. Therefore do not seek rest during night and day and 

sit not tranquil for a minute; but be diligent and be 
faithful in everything day by day. Do to-day’s duty, 
fight to-day’s temptation, and do not weaken and 
distract yourself by looking forward to things which 
you cannot see, and could not understand, if you 
saw them. 

1-2 H. W. Dresser. 3 O. S. Marden. 4 Thomas X Kempis. 5 
Abdul Baha and C. Kingsley. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


251 


September 8th. 

Every man shall bear his own burden. Gal. 6:5. 
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, 
and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction; and 
many there be which go in thereat: 

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which 
leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 

Matt. 7:13-14. 

Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap 
corruption; but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the 
spirit reap life everlasting. Gal. 6:7-8. 

1. To every man God will render according to his deeds. 

2. Man shall reap what he sows and obtain the fruits of 

what he plants. 

3. For to each without partiality all things are measured 

according to what he is, what he thinks, and what 
he does. 

4. Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than 

its equivalent of pain. 

5. And if we violate any law of life, then our con¬ 

demnation only ceases when we cease doing wrong. 

6. As to your final account take care that it shall be 

settled before death; undergo here your indictment 
and your trial; pass on yourself just sentence and 
punishment; then will you pass into the future with¬ 
out further trial, chastisement or fear. 

7. For if you judge yourself, you will not be judged; for 

the judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and con¬ 
tinually. 

1 Rom. 2 Abdul Baha. 3 H. W. Dresser. 4 Mary Baker G. 
Eddy. 5 C. B. Patterson. 6 Lamai. 7 Cor. and Mary Baker 
G. Eddy. 




252 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 9th. 

The cup our Father hath given, shall we not drink it and 
learn the lessons He teaches? Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it 
may bring forth more fruit. John 15:2. 

It became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom 
are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make 
the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 

Heb. 2:10. 

If the being, under these overwhelming circumstances, 
keeps a general tendency upward, aspires instead of 
grovels, has faith instead of yielding to scepticism, and 
battling along, does gradually build up a character of 
good, here he comes with that good, pure and simple, leav¬ 
ing all that went to produce it still at work, still active 
for others in the material world. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. Fools, because of their transgression, and because of 

their iniquities, are afflicted. 

2. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they 

draw near unto the gates of death. 

3. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He 

saveth them out of their distresses. 

4. He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered 

them from their destructions. 

5. Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, 

and for His wonderful works to the children of men. 

6. And let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, 

and declare His works with rejoicing. 


1-6 Ps. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


253 


September 10th. 

The breath of God has awakened me and the Spirit of 
God has quickened me and raised me from among the 
dead with a joyful spirit of life. Abdul Baha. 

All the trees are without fruit except the Tree of life 
planted in the paradise of God. All the winds are dis¬ 
quieting to the soul except the breeze of God. Every 
benefit vanishes except the food of heaven. All the ma¬ 
terial blessings, when compared with the spiritual bless¬ 
ings, are as nothing. Abdul Baha. 

All true culture has as its goal the liberation of man 
from the sensual gravitation which every one experiences 
in himself, and from selfishness. K. Hilty. 

The love of the flesh is conquered by spiritual love; the 
desires of the flesh are extinguished by those of the spirit; 
and the diminution of one becomes the increase of the 
other. St. Jerome. 

1. I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no 

good thing: For to will is present with me; but how 
to perform that which is good I find not. 

2. I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 

3. But I see another law in my members, warring against 

the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity 
to the law of sin which is in my members. 

4. 0 wretched man that I am! 

5. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 

6. I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

7. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has 

made me free from the law of sin and death. 


1-7 Rom. 




254 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 11th. 

All things are yours. I Cor. 3:21. 

Try to have a broader conception, first of God, then of 
law, and then of yourself. The one, eternal, is your 
source; the second, ever-active, is your preserver; the 
third, immortal, is possessed of powers that reach out and 
on, back to perfection, even the Father, of which it is the 
child. Cora Linn Daniels. 

The one great essential in human life is to become 
deeply conscious of the eternal relationship, to learn its 
individual meaning, and then co-operate with the uplift¬ 
ing Spirit within, to attain peace, equanimity and health 
through willing service and obedience, through compre¬ 
hensive thinking and many-sided development. 

H. W. Dresser. 

When man once fully realizes that he is an eternal soul, 
the child of one loving Father of all—the eternal God— 
he becomes a new being, a powerful being right there and 
now. 

And when once he can harmonize himself with that 
something within him which was never born and never 
dies, the Divine Principle which never sins, he will be 
really efficient and becomes perfectly happy. 

Magazine of Mysteries and 0. S. Marden. 

In the highest stage man’s aspiration and God’s inspira¬ 
tion are continually exchanged with all the ease and force 
of natural breath. They become, in fact, the soul’s vital 
breath, without which it cannot breathe. 


J. Cooke. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 255 


September 12th. 

1. Warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble¬ 

minded, support the weak, be patient toward all 
men. 

2. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; 

3. But ever follow that which is good, both among your¬ 

selves and all men. 

4. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. 

5. In everything give thanks: For this is the will of God 

in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

6. Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesyings. 

7. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 

8. Abstain from all appearance of evil. 

9. Mortify your members which are upon the earth; 

fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil 
concupiscence and covetousness, which is idolatry; 

10. For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on 

the children of disobedience: In the which we also 
walked some time, when we lived in them. 

11. But now ye also put off all these: anger, wrath, 

malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of 
your mouth. 

12. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off 

the old man with his deeds; and have put on the 
new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the 
image of Him that created him, where Christ is all 
in all. 

13. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; 

14. And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body 

be preserved blameless unto the coming of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

15. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. 


1-8 Thess . 9-12 Col . 13-15 Thess . 





256 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 13th. 

No one shall be dissatisfied in this land of satisfaction, 
where every pure craving of a tender soul meets with its 
exquisite and divine fulfilment out of the unutterable 
bounty of God. Cora Linn Daniels. 

There shall be no night there; and they need no candle, 
neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them 
light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Rev. 22:5. 

1. The episode of [this earthly life is] but a day amid 

days. 

2. And death is simply the decay of the body, and may 

occur as a mere incident, while the spirit looks 
calmly on. 

3. There is no pain in spirit. No evil of any kind, either 

of feeling or perception or sensation, can disturb the 
spirit. It is the body which is constantly disturbed 
and out of harmony with its environment. 

4. Outside of the body there is nothing to dread. The 

worst there is you see right before you in the defi¬ 
ciencies of the senses, the physical pain, the loss of 
memory, the stupor which fills you with grief and 
anxiety. 

5. In so far as the spirit escapes from all this, it is at rest. 

6. And when you enter the next world “gently borne 

upon the current of heavenly will, you will find 
nothing to frighten you or render you otherwise 
than perfectly at ease”. 

7. You have no cause at all for fear, apprehension, or 

depression, but cause for joy and hopeful anticipa¬ 
tion. 

1-6 Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 257 


September 14th. 

The believers of God must not turn their faces from any 
difficulty. Like unto a waving sea they must be tumultu¬ 
ous and full of divine acclamation, and similar unto 
thankful birds they must be always singing the songs of 
love, light, and life. Abdul Baha. 

The soul createth her own atmosphere, therefore her 
sky need never be gray. M. B. Wallace. 

Sure and beautiful stretcheth the road sunward before 
every child of man. Let each but realize this, and go 
forward in the consciousness of Divine Light upon his face 
and being, wrapping him in a glory of which he may 
become aware by simply uplifting and unfolding his soul 
to the heavenly radiance. M. B. Wallace. 

Whether a man be rich or poor, a good heart maketh 
at all times a cheerful countenance. Ecclesiasticus. 

1. What clouds of useless anxiety and care we see in most 

people’s lives, using up brain and nervous energy, 
weakening physical health, and casting despairing 
shadows on those with whom the soul is associated. 

2. The only road to success is through the attainment of 

a calm and joyous mind. A calm and joyous mind, 
free from worry and care, is the golden key that 
unlocks the doors of infinite possibilities. ... In 
calmness lies power. 

3. No . . . effort is needed, but rather the turning of 

the attention towards Divine realities. . . . You 
should turn, because it is a joy to do so. 


1-3 M. B. Wallace. 




258 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 15th. 

1. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits 

toward me? 

2. I shall take the cup of salvation, and call upon the 

name of the Lord. I will praise Him with my whole 
heart. My tongue shall speak of His righteousness 
and of His praise all the day long. I wifi sing of 
His mercy and judgment: unto the Lord will I sing. 

3. 0 come, all ye people, let us sing unto the Lord: let 

us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. 
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, 
and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For 
the Lord is a great God, and a great king above all 
gods. 

4. Give unto Him the glory due unto His name; worship 

the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Praise ye the 
Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; 
for it is pleasant. Make a joyful noise unto the 
Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before 
His presence with singing. 

5. Know ye the Lord, He is God: It is He that hath made 

us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and 
the sheep of His pasture. 

6. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His 

courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless 
His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is ever¬ 
lasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. 

7. Praise, therefore, the Lord for His goodness, and for 

His wonderful works to the children of men. 

8. Yea, bless the Lord your God forever and ever. For 

blessed is His glorious name, which is exalted above 
all blessing and praise. 


1-7 Ps. 8 Nehemiah. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


259 


September 16th. 

The Spirit and the Bride say. Come, and let him that 
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 

Rev. 22:17. 

It is His will and counsel that we hold us with Him, 
and fasten us to Him evermore, in what state soever we 
be; for whether we are foul qr clean, we are all one in 
His loving. St. Julian of Norwich. 

Woe unto him who disbelieved the grace of God and 
His bounty, His mercy and His power. Baha’o’llah. 

We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all 
men, specially of those that believe. I Tim. 4:10. 

He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him 
about. Ps. 32:10. 

The source of all good is trust in the Lord, obedience 
to His command, and satisfaction in His will. 

Baha’o’llah. 

Attainment is not through renunciation but through 
radiant acquiescence. Abdul Baha. 

All things are possible to him that believeth. 

Mark 9:23. 

Again and again, in one’s extremity, when life’s burden 
seems too hard, and one knows not where to look for help, 
nor how to rise above trouble, there is one wisest and 
most effective method, namely, to realize that the power 
which brought us here will see us through. Trust! Trust! 
is the word. There is a wisdom which will, which must 
guide to the end, since it has never failed us yet. 

H. W. Dresser. 





260 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 17 th. 

Seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the 
truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the 
brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart 
fervently. 

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incor¬ 
ruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth 
forever. / Pet. 1:22, 23. 

Let love become the ruling power in you all, so that 
you may be as fountains flowing from one source, stars 
beaming with one life, myrtles verdant and flourishing by 
the abundance of one rain. By this your hearts will be 
purified, your consciences illumined, your souls made 
clear, your banners hoisted, and you will become signs of 
guidance. Abdul Baha. 

We have but to enter by the gate of love to know God 
and have abundant life. C. B. Patterson. 

1. God is Love; and those who love are living in God. 

2. And where love is God is. 

3. Sin consists in living without God; that is to say 

without love. 

4. If you would be as God, love! 

5. Everything you love is a step toward heaven. 

6. Everything you dislike so as to make you incapable 

of loving any one, takes you down the steps away 
from Him. 


1-6 W. T. Stead. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


261 


September 18th. 

Zion said, the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord 
hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking 
child? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee? 
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands, 
saith the Lord, my Redeemer. Isa. 49:15. 

I know the thoughts that I think towards thee, thoughts 
of peace, and not of evil, to give thee an expected end. 

Jer. 29:11. 

Think, realize, until you have a measure of unborrowed 
conviction, which establishes a center of repose, which 
never harbors fear or doubt, no matter what the wavering 
self may say; a center which rests at last on the love of 
God. H. W. Dresser. 

1. God is a God of love, from Him is life and all. And 

He who loved us into life, He is a Father, infinitely 
fatherly. 

2. He is a God of hope: a God who fills the soul and 

heart which He favors: a God who makes us feel 
within ourselves our wretchedness and His own infi¬ 
nite mercy: who fills us with humility, gladness, 
hope and love: who makes us unfit for anything 
but Himself. 

3. His love and His gifts are in such profusion as to rush 

like a torrent, overflow as a sea, and shower as rain. 

4. In Him let us trust and rely on His love and His 

bounty, which is flowing like currents of water, 
raining like the clouds, and brilliant like unto the 
lights. 

5. 0 brother! He who has seen that radiance of love and 

is partaking of that bounty, he is saved. 

1 Anon. 2 B. Pascal. 3-4 Abdul Baha. 5 Songs of Kabir. 




262 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 19th. 

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him, 
and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye 
shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him. Deut. 13:4. 

Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in 
heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother. 

Matt. 12:50. 

God’s will is in the laws which He has so beneficently 
established, and He gave you your will to use upon those 
laws, with all intelligence, for your own benefit. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

Let us obey, dedicating ourselves entirely to God. And 
let no thought or mention remain in us save the name of 
our supreme Lord. Abdul Baha. 

Let us strive and wrestle with all our might to obey God 
and His commandments so thoroughly at all times and in 
all things, that in us there be nothing, spiritual or natural, 
which opposes God; and that our whole soul and body 
with all their members may stand ready and willing for 
that to which God has created us. 

Theologia Germanica. 

We give up many indulgences for conscience’ sake, and 
stop short at that point of entire faithfulness wherein 
conscience could reward us. If we would but give our¬ 
selves wholly to God—give up for the present and the 
future every act, and above all, every thought and every 
feeling, to be all purified to the uttermost and rendered 
the best, noblest, holiest we can conceive—then would 
sacrifice bear with it a peace rendering itself far easier 
than before. F. B. Cobbe. 

So dear, so due, to God is obedience. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


263 


September 20th. 

God is our Lord. He is the best of helpers. Koran. 
His gifts to us mortals fulfil all our needs. R. Tagore. 
The Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all 
means. II Thess. 3:16. 

My people have committed two evils; they have for¬ 
saken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them 
out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 

Jer. 2:13. 

1. Let us be still; let us know His love and indwelling 

presence. 

2. Let us test it fully, and learn what it will do for us 

if we never worry, never fear, never reach out, away 
from this present life. 

3. Let us absorb from His love, for our spirits need daily 

nourishment. 

4. Silently and unobserved, the Spirit will breathe upon 

us if we reflect, if we wait for it in stillness day by 
day. 

5. It will not come if we doubt, if we fear, or if our 

thought is too active. 

6. It comes, we hardly know how, if we trust. 

7. All it asks is receptive listening. Then all that an 

unselfish human being would wisely ask is ours. 

8. It steals into our consciousness when we think deeply, 

to guide, to strengthen, to encourage. 

9. The Spirit is the Supreme Reality, we live in it, and 

with it, and there is naught to separate us from its 
ever-watchful care, its overflowing presence. 


1-9 II. W. Dresser. 





264 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 21st. 

The Kingdom of God is at hand: Repent, therefore, 
and believe the Glad Tidings. Mark 1:15. 

Repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repent¬ 
ance. Acts 3:19. 

Amend your ways and your doings. Jer. 7:3. 

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and 
a contrite heart He will not despise. Ps. 51:17. 

He is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and 
saves such as be of a contrite spirit. Ps. 34:18. 

1. Do not despair of God’s goodness to you, under any 

circumstance. 

2. And if you are really repentant, do not hold on to the 

burden of an evil conscience; such a burden is bad 
and blameworthy, and it is your duty at once to cast 
it away. 

3. For, verily, if God finds you a willing receiver, He will 

forget your past—for God is God of the present. 

4. As you are you will be treated. 

5. He looks only to the present state of our heart. 

6. And why should I constantly weaken myself “by re¬ 

gretful recollections of the imperfect yesterday or 
anxious anticipation of the uncertain morrow”? 

7. I will concentrate all my energies upon the passing 

hour, and thus will atonement be made for the past 
and grace developed for the future. 

8. To-day I live—the grief of yesterday is passed; to¬ 

day I triumph; to-morrow shall find me still a 
victor. 

1 Fenelon. 2 J. Hamilton. 3-5 J. Tauler. 6-8 C. B. Newcomb. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


265 


September 22nd. 

Thy statutes have been mv songs in the house of my 
pilgrimage. Ps. 119:54. 

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt. 4:4. 

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. 
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with 
grace. Heb. 13:9. 

Far off is the time when man will “know the Truth, 
the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. The earth 
will be without form and void before” he will know it. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

Knowledge is a growth, and the desire for knowledge 
is an outgrowth of that growth. Ambition for perfection 
is the flower of the growth of that growth, and not every 
one attains it in a thousand years. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. We have strength in proportion to our apprehension 

of the truth. 

2. It is through Truth that God acts upon the human 

mind, and through Truth that He helps and makes 
perfect. 

3. “It is”, therefore, “in vain in times of trouble to let 

our mind run out after help’.’; 

4. We have to sit still, and feel after our principles of 

Truth, which should furnish us with at least some¬ 
what of a stay and prop; 

5. And “self-mastery is not with struggles and fears and 

efforts”, it is by knowledge of Truth. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 3-4 M. A. Kelty. 5 A. R. Militz. 




266 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 23d. 

Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. 

Zech. 9:12. 

Look always to God for aid and not to frail human 
nature. Abdul Baha. 

Even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs 
will I carry you: I have made and I will hear; even I will 
carry, and will deliver you. Isa. 46:4. 

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot 
save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your 
iniquities have separated between you and your God, and 
your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not 
hear. Isa. 59:1, 2. 

0 Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine 
help. Hos. 13:9. 

Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is 
mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He 
shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Ps. 130:7, 8. 

The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all 
those that be bowed down. Ps. 145:14. 

The Lord their God shall save them in that day as the 
flock of His people: for they shall be as the stones of 
a crown. For how great is His goodness, and how great is 
His beauty. Zech. 9:16, 17. 

Truly perceive that the forces of God-Good are with 
you, supporting and sustaining you every moment. Learn 
to lean upon Him; cease to think of yourself, your power 
or lack of power. Keep receptive, open to the good, the 
true. Calm confidence will come. 

Magazine of Mysteries. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 267 


September 24th. 

The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails 
much. Jas. 5:16. 

I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up 
holy hands, without wrath and doubting. I Tim. 2:8. 

Give yourself unto prayer; 

And with a heart overflowing with the love of God 
supplicate to God with all joy, and thank for His guid¬ 
ance, His wonderful bestowals and high gifts. 

Ps. and Abdul Baha. 

Prayer is the laying hold of the power and presence 
of God, Spirit. Anon. 

The habitual struggle to be always good is unceasing 
prayer. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

To pray to God is to listen to God, and His voice is to 
be listened for in the impulses of our own souls, which 
come to us in those secret hours in which His presence 
excludes from our consciousness all other presences. 

L. Abbott. 

1. Every soul which aspires to God as the chief end and 

aim of existence; every soul which loves God deeply, 
constantly and fervently, calls to itself, holds and 
commands invisible powers and harmonies of which 
its earthbound imagination cannot dream. 

2. Every fervent prayer for light, for truth, for righteous¬ 

ness, is an unconscious willing of forces which make 
for the causes you advocate. 


1-2 Cora Linn Daniels. 




268 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 25th. 

There is no death. All, all is life. M. B. Wallace. 

There is nothing to fear; nothing to lose and all to gain. 

Anon. 

Why should you fear to yield your breath to Him that 
is the Lord of death? Why should you dislike to relin¬ 
quish this life of the world which is nothing but a sport 
and a play? Is not the abode of the next world the true 
home? Koran. 

Human life is ... a little toy, and if our friends die, 
we may feel that they have only broken a bauble—to enter 
into the jewel life of princes. Cora Linn Daniels. 

Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth; and the 
former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 
But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: 
For, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her peo¬ 
ple a joy. Isa. 65:17, 18. 

The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to 
Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. 
They shall attain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing 
shall flee away. Isa. 35:10. 

Men and women of riper years and larger lessons ought 
to ripen into health and immortality, instead of lapsing 
into darkness or gloom. Immortal Mind feeds the body 
with supernal freshness and fairness, supplying it with 
beautiful images of thought and destroying the woes of 
sense. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


269 


September 26th. 

The joyfulness of a man is length of days. Love your 
own soul, and comfort your heart: and remove sorrow 
far from you. For sorrow hath destroyed many, and there 
is no profit therein; while care bringeth old age before 
the time. Ecclesiasticus. 

It is not only your right, it is your duty to enjoy and 
be happy. J. Hinton. 

1. Yield not to sadness, because it is the enemy of devo¬ 

tion. Sin alone should ever give us unhappiness and 
annoyance, and even then a joy and holy consolation 
should be mingled with the pain with which sin 
affects us. 

2. It is in happiness that true life lies—in sorrow we but 

endure, waiting to live again. Happiness is natural 
and right. Nothing but our lack of reason or our 
lack of love, can hurt our interior happiness. 

3. To maintain this happiness, inward calmness and free¬ 

dom let us put aside all useless reflections on the 
past, whether of regret or self-complacency; and 
when we have accomplished one duty, let us go 
steadily on with the next, confining our attention 
entirely to the one thing God gives us to do, and not 
forestalling difficulties for the future any more than 
entertaining regrets for the past. 

4. We must be cheerful, easy and affable—no shyness and 

awkwardness. Let us ask God to change our shrink¬ 
ing, reserved manner; let us not be dreamy and 
absent in society because we are secretly trying 
to realize God’s presence. Rather let us do what 
He requires of us at the actual moment, that is, 
let us be kindly and courteous. 

1 St. Francis de Sales. 2 A. C. Benson and J. Hall. 3-4 Fenelon. 




270 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 27th. 

Incline thy heart unto the Lord, and seek Him; 

For if thou shalt seek the Lord, thy God, thou shalt 
find Him, if thou seek Him with all thy heart and with 
all thy soul. Josh, and Deut. 

Purify thyself from all else save Him, so that thou 
mayest sacrifice thy soul in His love. 

If thou lovest Him, turn away from thyself; 

If His will thou seekest, regard not thine own, that thou 
mayest die in Him, and He live in thee. Baha’o’llah. 
My son, forsake thyself, and thou shalt find Me. 

Thomas a Kempis. 

Perfect love is perfect trust. 

It is our repose, our joy, and our life; while self-love 
is constant weariness, sadness and a living death of our 
true selves. James Allen and St. Catherine of Genoa. 
Seek ye Me and ye shall live. Amos 5:4. 

1. Everything may be made a daily act of love to God: 

2. That headache, that toothache, that cold, that ill- 

humor of husband or wife, that breakage of a piece 
of china, that affront received, that loss of a glove, 
a ring, or a handkerchief; that slight inconvenience 
of having to go to bed early, or of getting up 
betimes— 

3. All these little annoyances, if borne with meekness 

and love, are well-pleasing to God. 

4. And as these slight occasions occur every moment, we 

have so many opportunities, if we well employ them, 
of laying up for ourselves spiritual treasures. 

1-4 St. Francis de Sales 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


271 


September 28th. 

The anointing which ye have received of Him abideth 
in you. 7 John 2:27. 

Heaven penetrates to the depths of all hearts, as day¬ 
break illumines the darkest room. And we should strive 
to reflect its light. Chinese. 

Divine Love will so illumine the human consciousness 
that God and the spiritual idea will become to us more 
real than anything material which we ever saw. R. Nall. 
The supreme reality in the universe is spirit. 

R. H. Lotze. 

Only the spirit is real; everything else is as shadow. 

Abdul Baha. 

Material is only the expression of the spiritual. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

The matter in which [we] are immersed is a vapour, a 
mere phantasm of the mind, which vanishes away and is 
not. Spirit alone is, whether in the body or out of the 
body. W. T. Stead. 

1. Thou shalt have no intelligence, no life, no substance, 

no truth, no love, but that which is spiritual. 

2. Thou shalt love Spirit only, not its opposite, in every 

God-quality, even in substance; 

3. Thou shalt recognize thyself as God’s spiritual child 

only. 

4. The eternal and infinite, ... so grow upon my vision 

that I cannot feel justified in turning aside for one 
hour from contemplation of them and of the faith 
unfeigned. 

1-4 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




272 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


September 29th. 

1. Divine Love corrects and governs man. And directs 

his experiences. 

2. Experience is the one thing we all of us want; it is 

for that we are here; and we must not sort and 
select it. 

3. The strife, the censure, the annoyance which takes the 

heart out of one, the necessity of yielding and com¬ 
promising, the fear of pain and sorrow, the failure, 
the blunder, the loss, [they are necessary]—these are 
the things which [clean up,] purify and strengthen. 

4. Everything that God gives us is needed; and there is 

no dispensation, though afflictive, but either in it, 
or after it, we will find that we could not be with¬ 
out it. 

5. We must have trials and self-denials, as well as joys 

and victories, until all error is destroyed. 

6. “Everything”, therefore, “which occurs to us is pre¬ 

cisely that condition of things which is best suited to 
try and to benefit our own state”. 

7. All the pains you suffer or have suffered, are as prods 

and pokes to keep you out of wrong paths—to make 
you follow the law. Trial and perplexity teach 
one the wiser meanings of life, and the way to speed 
their departure is to grasp the meaning as swiftly 
as possible. 

8. And by wiser conduct we at last solve the problem of 

suffering. We may be sure there is deliverance from 
every unfavorable condition of our lives when we 
have fitted ourselves to accept it. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy and Author. 2-3 A. C. Benson. 4 G. Eliot. 
5 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 6 F. W. Upham. 7 P. Mulford and 
L. Whiting. 8 H. W. Dresser and C. B. Newcomb. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 273 


September 30th. 

God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, 
and of love, and of a sound mind. II Tim. 1:7. 

In Thee, 0 Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be 
put to confusion. I flee unto Thee to hide me. Ps. 71:1. 

It is incumbent upon you to expose yourselves to the 
fragrances of God at every time and moment. 

Abdul Baha. 

Consider how the radiance of the light of the Holy 
Spirit does illumine the court of the soul, that it brings 
about spiritual discoveries and produces merciful attach¬ 
ment. The essential meeting is that spiritual attachment 
or union and heartfelt feelings: when this gift becomes 
manifest, heavenly bounties will be attained and hopes 
shall be fulfilled. Abdul Baha. 

1. Go on in all simplicity; do not be so anxious to win 

a quiet mind, and it will be all the quieter. 

2. Do not examine so closely into the progress of your 

soul. 

3. Do not crave so much to be perfect, but let your 

spiritual life be formed by your duties, and by the 
actions which are called forth by circumstances. 

4. Do not take overmuch thought for to-morrow. 

5. God, who has led you safely on so far, will lead you 

on to the end. 

6. Be altogether at rest in the loving, holy confidence 

which you ought to have in His heavenly providence. 


1-6 St. Francts de Sales. 




274 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 1st. 

The matter of the universe is plastic to the power of 
thought. M. B. Wallace. 

Thought is the frame-work upon which all outward 
things are constructed. . . . Realize your divine power. 
Use it with thankfulness and awe. M. B. Wallace. 

All that we can wisely do is merely to affirm great truths 
and inspiring ideas, to live in their high and broad vision, 
to make them the atmosphere of our life—and then let 
the subconscious self work them out as it will. 

0. Huckel. 

It is a good plan constantly to furnish the mind with 
some high thought; every day we should give the mind 
this shield of good thought. This fixed in the mind by 
a few recitations, will recur to the mind again and again 
during the day, and will be found repeating itself in the 
mind, whenever the mind is disengaged. Anon. 

The dissemination of high thoughts is the motive power 
in the arteries of this transitory world, yea, it is the soul 
of all peoples. Thoughts are infinite as the sea and the 
ways and manners of life are like embankments and dykes 
against the waves; and not until the sea moves do the 
waves rise up and cast on shore the pearls of wisdom. 

Abdul Baha. 

Man's being is modified by every thought he thinks. 
Every experience affects his character. Every effort he 
makes changes his mentality. To live is to think and act, 
and to think and act is to change. What the sum total 
of a man’s thoughts are, that he is. James Allen. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


275 


October 2nd. 

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His 
saints. Ps. 116:15. 

The most beautiful thing about a life near to its close 
is its repose of soul, that abounding peace, which nothing 
can shake any longer, and which has fought it out with 
God and men, and has prevailed. K. Hilty. 

Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling of 
the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk. 

G. MacDonald. 

It is only by dying to other things that we are fitted 
for physical death. Fenelon. 

Looking heavenward, men lose sight of the unreal, 
death is not even a shadow. They see and know nothing 
save the great realities—Life, Love, and Truth, which are 
in all and are all. E. Towne. 

There is no death; what seems so is transition. 

H. W. Longfellow. 

The tomb is but the gateway to an eternity of oppor¬ 
tunity. Anon. 

1. Death is life—the only life, the way to life. Proclaim 

it and prepare for this life [that is coming]. 

2. Learn to love the eternal beauty which never grows 

old, and ever prevents those from growing old who 
love nothing but itself. 

3. As the physical and material, the transient sense of 

beauty fades, the radiance of Spirit should dawn 
upon the enraptured sense with bright and imper¬ 
ishable glories. 

1 Cora Linn Daniels. 2 Fenelon. 3 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




276 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 3d. 

O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou 
art our potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand. 

Isa. 64:8. 


God is my life. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

0 ye who seek to solve the knot! 

Ye live in God, yet know Him not. 

Ye sit upon the river’s brink, 

Yet crave in vain a drop to drink. 

Ye dwell beside a countless store, 

Yet perish hungry at the door. Sufi. 

What heart can comprehend His name, 

Or searching find Him out, 

Who is within a quickening flame, 

A presence round about? Anon. 

1. I, too, am a part of Him. 

2. In the midst of Infinite Spirit my finite spirit rests. 

3. That touches me on all sides. 

4. It is in absolute contact with me with no smallest 

interval between the spirit of Father and the spirit 
of child. 

5. Small wonder, then, that the joy-tides of the Infinite 

Heart should cause respondent waves of hope and 
love in me, when His eternal life and my life meet 
and blend at every point; 

6. Small wonder that the cry of my grief is heard by 

Him, when His ear is so close that the smallest 
whisper must needs be heard. 

1 E. Wilder. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


277 


October 4th. 

Do thou seek refuge in God, He both hears and looks. 

Koran. 

Pessimism and despair often rush in, if you do not 
check them by some happy thought. H. W. Dresser. 

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain 
that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman 
waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, 
to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows. Ps. 127:1,2. 

1. Aou must not cast about for ways and means: life is 

like a sunshiny, warm day; 

2. Our part is to breathe and feel and thank God. 

3. And a cardinal rule of your life must be to live exclu¬ 

sively in the present moment, without casting a look 
beyond. For there is no cause for worry and fear. 

4. See, how many a beast cannot carry its own provision. 

5. God provides and cares for it and for you. 

6. Speaking and acting, therefore, in the sincere belief 

that there is no God except Him, you should trust 
Him more than the world or money or father or 
mother or any one on the face of the earth. 

7. All the shadows, all the doubts and fears, and all the 

suggestions of poverty and failure you should erase 
from your mind. And you should expect always 
that the best will happen to you instead of the worst. 

1-2 F. L. Warner. 3 Fenelon. 4-5 Koran. 6 Shaqiq. 7 0. S. 
Marden. 




278 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 5th. 

The king’s daughter is all glorious within. Ps. 45:13. 

1. We all must be purified and made strong—either by 

meeting and overcoming temptation, or by meeting 
it and falling before it. Failure sometimes teaches 
us more than victory. 

2. Nothing is meaningless. What we need comes to us, 

if not in one way then in another, and all works 
together for good. 

3. There is no such thing as standing still, or, for that 

matter, of going back—except as the arrow is drawn 
back, perhaps, that it may go more surely and 
swiftly. 

4. Life is destined to be for all a growth and a daily 

adaptation of knowledge; a repression of the earthly; 
a development of the spiritual and heavenly; a con¬ 
tinual struggle with self, and a perpetual reaching 
out after Divine beauty. 

5. The goal is to become ourselves as beautiful as the 

Beauty which we have touched and entered, and to 
be made bright and luminous ourselves in commu¬ 
nion with the real light. For we can be changed into 
something better than ourselves; the eye, purged of 
all discoloring stain, can see God, the Archetype of 
all beauty and of all reality. 

6. And flying from brightness to brightness, aspiring with 

outstretched arms the spirit can reach the immortal 
pattern of all reality in Christ according to which 
it was created. 

1-3 C. B. Patterson. 4 Anon. 5 St. Gregory of Nyssa. 6 J. 
Ruysbroeck. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


279 


October 6th. 

It is well never to lose an opportunity of seeing any¬ 
thing that is beautiful; for beauty is God’s handwriting. 

Let us welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, 
in every fair flower, and thank God for it as a cup of 
blessing, a source of joy and uplifting. 

And let us trust and rejoice, for the heart, which has 
received so much, shall it not trust the power by which it 
lives? R. W. Emerson. 

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: But by 
the sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. Prov. 15:13. 

1. Verily, “no one has any moral right to go about the 

world in a state of gloom, carrying with him a bitter, 
repellent atmosphere. Life is given to be glad in; 
to use worthily; to make the most of ourselves and 
for others. To be pleasant, to be agreeable and 
responsive and cheerful and uplifting is”, therefore, 
“an important part of the personal duties of life”. 

2. Grief, disappointment, discouragement, excitability, 

moroseness, the negative attitude, have to be given 
up; and the opposite states have to be cultivated in 
every case. 

3. We have to live in perpetual sunshine; in fact, we 

have to be sunshine; we have to live in perpetual 
happiness; and we can, when we learn to look at life 
from the proper point of view. 

4. If we continue to feel mean, ugly, miserable, or dis¬ 

gusted, we will finally look these things. If we 
continue to feel any desirable quality, that quality 
will become a living power in our nature. 

1 L. Whiting. 2-4 0. S. Marden. 




280 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 7th. 

You fear God more than you love Him! Fenelon. 

By love God may be gotten and holden, but by thought 
never. Plotinus. 

The good which you cannot do to God, because He has 
need of nothing, you should do to your neighbor for the 
love of God. St. Ignatius. 

The light of the love of God shines in the lamp of the 
hearts of those who know God. 

The fruit of human existence is the love of God; for 
this love is the spirit of life, and the eternal bounty. 

Abdul Baha. 

You are made to find your rest only in God. As the eye 
craves light and the ear sound, your higher nature sighs 
for God. God alone can satisfy the soul. It needs His 
infinite love and unclouded light to meet its longing. 

C. Geikie. 

1. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is the One Being; 

2. And thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thine 

heart, and with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and 
with all thy strength. 

3. And these words which I command thee this day, shall 

be in thine heart: 

4. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy chil¬ 

dren. 

5. And shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine 

house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when 
thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 

1-5 Deul. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


281 


October 8th. 

I know not what the future hath 
Of marvel and surprise, 

Assured alone that life and death 

His mercies underlies. J. G. Whittier. 

L God gives you His spiritual ideas, and in turn, they 
give you daily supplies. Never ask for to-morrow: 

2. It is enough that divine Love is an ever-present help; 

3. And if you wait, never doubting, you will have all 

you need every moment. 

4. What a glorious inheritance is given to us through 

the understanding of omnipresent Love! More we 
cannot ask: more we do not want: more we cannot 
have. 

5. This sweet assurance is the “Peace, be still” to all 

human fears, to suffering of every sort. 

6. For, if God is Love, what have we to fear? 

7. We know “that an infinite sea of love is all about” us, 

“throbbing through” us; 

8. “Everlasting arms of affection lift” us, and we bathe 

ourselves “in the clear consciousness of a Father’s 
love”. 

9. His “tenderness is so perfect and all-embracing that 

there is no room to doubt or fret”; 

10. “If He seems to be severe or indifferent”. He “is only 

so because He has waited so long and has so long 
to wait”; 

11. His “design is so vast, so incredibly joyful, so speech¬ 

lessly serene, that the doubts and griefs and sorrows 
of all the men and women that have ever lived are 
but as the trivial ripple on a mighty ocean of 
peace”. 

1-5 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 7-8 H. W. Warren. 9-11 A. C. Benson. 




282 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 9th. 

To God be resigned. Koran. 

Examine your own will, and let the law of God only be 
within you. Anon. 

Be silent before God, and let Him mould thee. Anon. 

Set a watch over yourself and all that belongs to you 
within and without, and so direct, govern and guard your 
heart, as far as in you lies, that neither will nor desire, 
love nor longing, opinion nor thought, shall spring up in 
your heart, or have any abiding place in you, save such 
as are meet for God. Theologia Germanica. 

0 son of man! If thou run through all immensity and 
speed through the space of heaven, thou shalt find no 
rest save in obedience to God’s command and in devotion 
before His face. Baha’o’llah. 

The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always 
those things that please Him. Johji 8:29. 

1. All things do for God and in His name; whether you 

eat or whether you drink, whether you sleep or 
whether you amuse yourself, whether you command 
or whether you pbey—do everything because God 
wills you to do it. 

2. Be ever ready to do the Father’s will, to go wherever 

the Spirit leads. Be ready to yield all to possess all. 

3. And do not move in your own wisdom, but in the light 

of God, as it shines from within in a sanctified judg¬ 
ment, and as it is increased from without by His 
divine providence. 

1 St. Francis de Sales. 2 II. W. Dresser. 3 Mme. Guyon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 283 


October 10th. 

There falls not a leaf save that God knows it. Koran. 

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of 
them shall not fall on the ground without your Father; 

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered; fear 
not, therefore, you are of more value than many spar¬ 
rows. Matt. 10:29-31. 

Despair as much as you please of yourself, hut not of 
God. Fenelon. 

Depend upon Him, be sincere and sever yourself from 
all else save Him. Abdul Baha. 

1. There is no remover of difficulties but God. Praise be 

to God! 

2. And whoso fears Him shall not be afraid, and shall not 

play the coward: for He is his hope. 

3. Why are you, then, afraid? O man of little faith? 

4. Is not God yet more powerful than you are powerless? 

5. Fear nothing save mistrust of God, and do not be over¬ 

anxious even on that score. 

6. Bear with yourself as you would bear with others. 

7. Turn to your Father in every care; bury yourself in 

that tender Bosom, where nothing can fail you. 

8. As an infant, tired out and exhausted by its fruitless 

cries, sinks to rest in the maternal arms, so you must 
cease from your struggles, and sink to rest in the 
bosom of God. 


1 Baha’o’llah. 2 Eccles . 3-7 Fenelon. 8 W. F. Evans. 




284 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 11th. 

I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. Joel 2:28. 
By the force of a law which naught can withstand every¬ 
thing man needs is brought to him as rapidly as he is able 
to receive it. H. W. Dresser. 

Man’s progress in the path of eternal life is through a 
series of renunciations. R. Tagore. 

Let the love of God and God’s need of you, be the very 
breath of your life; become as a little child, . . . put 
your hand into the All-Father’s hand and say, I am led by 
the Spirit. E. Wilder. 

Listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open 
heart; bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, 
hurry never in a word; let the spiritual, unbidden and 
unconscious, grow up through the common. 

W. E. Channing. 

When spiritual truths are received in the heart their 
light dawns gradually on the mind as the stars come out 
in an evening sky, and they become part of your life. 

Anon. 

1. Unless the soul of man is quickened by the breaths of 

the Holy Spirit and he becomes vivified by the life 
of the Supreme Kingdom, he does not attain to full¬ 
ness of life, and all his powers, efforts and accom¬ 
plishments are in vain. 

2. But as the heavenly abundance and the divine gifts 

and the omnipotent grace come successfully and un¬ 
interruptedly, therefore should he facilitate and 
level the way before the divine transaction. 

1-2 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


285 


October 12th. 

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be 
repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 

II Cor. 7:10. 

Amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice 
of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent of the 
evil that He hath pronounced against you. Jer. 26:13. 

O child, have you fallen? Arise, and return, with child¬ 
like trust, to your Father, like the Prodigal Son! As¬ 
suredly He will not change His essence, which is love, for 
the sake of your misdoings. Is it not His own precious 
treasure, and a small thing with Him to forgive you your 
trespasses, if you believe in Him? For His arm is not 
shortened that it cannot make you fit to be saved and to 
be made meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the 
saints in light. J. Tauler. 

1. The Gospel of light I herald to you: Rejoice in it! 

2. And to the state of holiness I call you: Abide in it, 

that you may be in peace for ever and ever. 

3. Make an end of constantly entreating for your sins: 

accept the Gospel, and begin to entreat for righteous¬ 
ness. 

4. The best repentance is to up and act for righteousness, 

and forget that you ever had relations with sin. 

5. If you see yourself fallen once and a thousand times, 

you ought to make use of the remedy given you, that 
is, a loving confidence in the Divine mercy. 

6. And you will find by experience how much more your 

progress will be aided by the simple, peaceful turn¬ 
ing towards God, than by all your chagrin at the 
faults that exist in you. 

1-2 Baha’o’llah. 3 St. Hermas. 5-6 Fenelon. 




286 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 13th. 

If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, 
the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they 
are hid from thine eyes. Luke 19:42. 

I know also, my God, that Thou triest the heart, and 
hast pleasure in uprightness. I Chron. 29:17. 

Teach me Thy way, O Lord: I will walk in thy truth: 
unite my heart to fear thy name. Ps. 86:11. 

Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be 
My people; and walk ye in all the ways that I have com¬ 
manded you, that it may be well unto you. Jer. 7:23. 

Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which 
we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. 

II John 8. 

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the 
Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you. Amos 5:14. 

The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear 
the Lord our God, for our good always. Deut. 6:24. 

1. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who 

shall stand in His holy place? 

2. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath 

not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceit¬ 
fully. 

3. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and right¬ 

eousness from the God of his salvation. 

4. This is the generation of them that seek Him, that 

seek Thy face, 0 Jacob. 


1-4 Ps . 24. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


287 


October 14th. 

Every one of us shall give account of himself to God; 
let us, therefore, not judge one another any more. 

Rom. 14:12-13. 

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which 
is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, 
let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be 
holy still. And behold, I come quickly: and my reward is 
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 

Rev. 22:11-12. 

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: 
it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our 
thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, 
pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of him who 
draws the carriage. If a man speaks or acts with a pure 
thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never 
leaves him. Buddha. 

In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway 
thereof there is no death. Prov. 12:28. 

Harmony with right gathers to itself all the power of 
God, and these advantages are commanded by him whose 
motives are purest and most unselfish. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

Goodness will win the approval of God, the esteem of 
society, the peace of . . . conscience, the enlargement of 
[the] intellectual powers, and the usefulness of . . . 
existence, thus bringing inevitable joys of a rare character 
to [our] experience. . . . They are natural sequences 
and progressions in the line of pure right, and carry in 
themselves ample pleasure and constant delights. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 




288 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 15th. 

While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may 
be the children of light. John 12:36. 

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 

II Tim. 2:1. 

Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying 
in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God. 

Jude 20:21. 

They sought Him with their whole desire; and He was 
found of them. II Chron. 15:15. 

Each man is enlightened both in grace and in glory, 
according as he is capable of receiving so sublime a gift. 

J. Ruysbroeck. 

Every moment of our daily life is replete with prompt¬ 
ings from the divine. 

Every day and hour the possibility is open before us to 
turn away from the selfishness and the strife to that king¬ 
dom of peace and love which is not far from any one of 
us. H. W. Dresser. 

1. If you “invite spiritual influences they will flow in as 

naturally as air inclines to a vacuum”. 

2. Open, therefore, the door of your mind; for the Spirit 

stands behind it. 

3. May He cause to descend upon you this heavenly bless¬ 

ing; may He quicken your heart into an everlasting 
life and make it a source of merciful sentiments; so 
that your breath may become a quickener of the 
souls, your strong love may attract the hearts of 
men, and that your abundant affection may become 
a mercy to mankind in the world of existence. 

1 H. Wood. 2 Baha’o’llah. 3 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


289 


October 16th. 

The height whereunto love exalteth, is unspeakable; 
love joineth us to God. Without love nothing is well¬ 
pleasing to God. Clement of Alexandria. 

1. To be without love is not to live, and to love feebly 

is rather waste than growth. 

2. All the wildest passions by which men are led away 

are but true love, which has strayed from its right¬ 
ful sphere. 

3. God made you to live through Him and His love; you 

were born to be fed and consumed by that love. 

4. It is the blessed flame of life which God has kindled 

in the bottom of your hearts: 

5. All other life is mere death. You must love! 

6. 0 love the Love which loves you everlastingly! 

7. The more you love the more you will desire to love, 

and when you hold fast by love, God by His Spirit 
remakes you; then joy is yours. 

8. The Spirit of God breathes you out toward love and 

good works, and it breathes you into rest and joy; 
and that is eternal life. 

9. Do, therefore, what you will, only love God, and let 

His love, revived in your heart, be your guide. 

10. Follow trustfully the attraction God gives you towards 

His infinite perfection. Love Him as you wish to 
be loved; it is none too much. Love Him accord¬ 
ing to the notions He has given you of exceeding 
love. 

11. You were the most ungrateful of men not to love Him 

who has so loved you, and who is not weary of 
knocking at the door of your heart, that His love 
may enter in. 

1-5 Fenelon. 6-8 J. Ruysbroeck. 9-11 Fenelon. 




290 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 17 th. 

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall 
enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Matt. 7:21. 

The law of nature is, Do the thing, and you shall have 
the power. And you learn to do things by doing them. 

E. Towne. 

The eternal truth is attained and retained, not by an 
act of intellect, but through its translation into life. 

R. C. Eucken. 

Every repetition of benevolent and devout feeling and 
well-doing, every act of love toward God or man will be a 
round in the ladder whereby the soul is climbing upward 
and it will strengthen the principle from which that 
ascending movement springs and make the next acting of it 
easier. H. T. Cheever. 

1. We must resign with good grace what we are denied, 

and press on with what we are, for we cannot do 
more than we are nor understand what is not ripen¬ 
ing in us. 

2. To do good to all because we love all, and to use in 

God’s service the one talent that we all have, is our 
only means of adding to that talent and the best way 
to silence a deep discontent with our shortcomings. 

3. You should practise well what you know, and you will 

then advance in proportion to your honesty and 
fidelity; 

4. Be active, and, however slow, thy success is sure: 

5. Toil is triumph. 

6. Joy unto those who practise! 

7. The more man acts and makes actual what was latent 

in him, the nearer does he bring the distant Yet-to-be. 
1-5 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 6 Baha’o’llah. 7 R. Tagore. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 291 


October 18th. 

The statutes of the Lord are perfect, converting the soul. 

Ps. 19:7. 

Sanctify them through Thv truth: Thy Word is truth. 

John 17:17. 

A single sentiment of love, a conviction of God’s good¬ 
ness, when it enters the heart, is sufficient to produce 
union with God; but if this feeling be entertained for any 
time, it becomes like a precious perfume, which pene¬ 
trates every faculty of the soul. St. Francis de Sales. 

1. We should read what is suited to our tastes and our 

wants; and this reading should be often interrupted 
to give place to the interior spirit that leads to 
meditation. 

2. A few simple words, full of the Spirit of God, are the 

hidden manna. The words are forgotten, but they 
operate in secret. The soul is nourished and grows 
by them. 

3. But we must take care not to cease to nourish our¬ 

selves with certain truths by which we have been 
touched. 

4. While there remains still any relish to us, while they 

still have anything to give us, it is a certain sign 
that we need to receive from them. 

5. We see the truth, we love it, we repose upon it, it 

strengthens the heart, it detaches us from ourselves, 
and here we should abide in peace as long as we can. 

6. Let us give every truth time to send down deep root 

into the heart; let us keep our thought concentrated 
on it; let our thoughts and words constantly return 
to it. 


1-6 Fenelon. 




292 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 19th. 

Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not! 

Jer. 21:5. 

Those that walk in pride He is able to abase. 

Dan. 4:37. 

You are not in want of this world and its cares. Your 
throne is the mat of humility, your honor is in suffering 
every lowliness in the path of the loving Lord, and your 
wealth is being empty-handed from the pomps of the 
world and its vanities, and your provision is trusting in 
God and being severed from all that is on earth and its 
wealth. Abdul Baha. 

1. Verily, man is uplifted to the heaven of glory and 

power through meekness; again through pride, is 
he degraded to the lowest station. 

2. Burn the veils of glory with the fire of the beauty of 

the Beloved, and place none other than the Desired 
One in the mind and heart; 

3. Verily, the afflicted people He will save, while His 

eyes are upon the haughty, that He may bring them 
down. 

4. For thus says the High and lofty One that inhabiteth 

eternity, whose name is holy; 

5. I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that 

is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit 
of the humble, and to revive the heart of the con¬ 
trite ones. 

6. For I will not content forever, neither will I be always 

wroth: for the spirit should fail before Me and the 
souls which I have made. 

1-2 Baha’o’llah. 3 Sam. 1-6 Isa. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 293 


October 20th. 

1. Have faith in God! 

2. Consider all well done which is done by Him. 

3. Why should you feel disturbed about human events 

when you see Infinite Wisdom and Love presiding 
over and ruling them? 

4. Are you so foolish as to believe that God does not 

know what is best to be done; or that, though 
knowing it. He does not wish to do it; or that, 
wishing it, He is not able to do it? 

5. Whatever may come you should certainly approve 

of it. 

6. Nor can you do better than spare yourself the least 

doubt as to God’s will being the best, and His love 
being abounding to you and all. 

7. Trust, therefore, and have faith, though your heart 

may tremble and all may look dark and discour¬ 
aging. 

8. Faith is courage, moral courage that will not give in, 

that refuses to be beaten, that will not doubt though 
everything seems against believing. 

9. When clouds are heaviest and despair is on the heart, 

faith clings tenaciously to God. 

10. We can conjure up endless fears to haunt every 

step of the way, and can darken life by morbid 
repining. 

11. Or we can ignore our fears, and even learn to de¬ 

spise them, and can cultivate a cheerfulness which 
spreads cheer to others and saves our own heart 
from many a bitter hour. 

12. The complete antidote for fear and despondency is 

to throw the weight of life on the simple faith 
that the universal order is one of love. 


1 Mark . 2-6 De Sarasa. 8-12 Black. 




294 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 21st. 

The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them 
their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand, and 
satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 

Ps. 145:15. 

He provides for all things, the smallest as well as the 
greatest. Grecian. 

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their 
wounds. Ps. 147:3. 

They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. 

' Ps. 34:10. 

Be not careful overmuch! Esdras. 

Fear not, but let your hands be strong! Zech. 8:13. 

They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me. 

Isa. 49:23. 

God “in His infinite solicitude for all creation, must 
have, in some wise way, provided for exact justice and 
true loving-kindness” in all matters, although we cannot 
understand it. Cora Linn Daniels. 

The more you trust in God, the more you will constrain 
Him to care for you. Fenelon. 

My heavenly Father will never leave me comfortless, in 
the amplitude of His love; coming nearer in my need, 
more tenderly to save and bless. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the 
shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice. Ps. 63:7. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


295 


October 22nd. 

The Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 

/ Cor. 4:20. 

Working and praying with true motives, your Father 
will open the way. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

Your bodily consciousness dictates how you shall use 
your material forces; and your spiritual consciousness 
dictates how you shall use your spiritual forces. Either 
one or the other predominates at each present moment. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

44 We can learn in prayer and communion to withdraw 
from the consciousness of the morbid and painful . . . 
into the consciousness of the Divine and Eternal”. We can 
“sink into God in restfulness and peace, and awake to new 
strength and health. . . . It is letting God work through 
[us] to the fullest”. O. Huckel. 

1. When a prayer about any of [the] earthly things is 

made it is a prayer which must involve the laws by 
which earthly relations are maintained, and is thus 
necessarily amenable to those laws, or else unsuc¬ 
cessful. 

2. And “unless a man puts a shoulder to the wheel, the 

stuck wagon, floundering in the mud, cannot be got¬ 
ten along. 

3. For human life is always going through difficult and 

muddy ways, uphill, and over streams and across 
marshes and over mountains—an infinite variety, 
calling for wit, wisdom, will, tact, capacity, endur¬ 
ance, persistence, courage”; but “if you add these to 
prayer, believe me, your "go-cart’ will be trundled 
along—yea, to the very end”. 

1-3 Cora Linn Daniels. 




296 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 23d. 

From Him, the everlasting joy, all objects have their 
birth. Upanishads. 

We are nothing; God is all. Our life is in God, our 
energy is of Him. S. D. Kirkham. 

It is the same God which worketh all in all. 

J Cor. 12:6. 

We are of God. 

We are all, in the deepest center of our being, possessed 
of a substantial essence, not of earth, not of time and 
space, not of the shadow, but of the eternal, spiritual and 
heavenly type. St. John and J. Franck. 

1. God is infinite, the only Life, substance, Spirit, or Soul, 

the only intelligence of the universe, including man. 

2. Nothing possesses reality nor existence except the 

divine Mind and His ideas. Everything in God’s 
universe expresses Him. 

3. God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is 

present or has power. There is no other Life, sub¬ 
stance, and intelligence but God. 

4. The sum of our words is, He is all. 

5. He is the Father; He is the being of all that are, and 

the life of all that live, and the wisdom of all the 

wise; 

6. For all things have their being more truly in God than 

in themselves, and also their powers, knowledge and 
life. 

7. He is the Perfect, Simple Good, which is All, in All 

and above all, and without which and besides which 
there is no true Substance, nor true Good, and with¬ 
out which no good work ever was or will be done. 

1-3 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 4 Eccles. 5—"i Theologia Germanica. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


297 


October 24th. 

Consider your ways. Hag. 1:5. 

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: 

I would thou wert cold or hot. Rev. 3:15. 

Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly. 

Rev. 2:16. 

To begin the climb, we must have had a moment of 
utter abandonment and despair, when all the waves and 
streams of God pass over us, and when we seem to have 
nothing we can call our own but a timid, naked, worth¬ 
less, helpless soul. A. C. Benson. 

Seek holiness rather than consolation. J. N. Owen. 
One forgives everything to him who forgives himself 
nothing. Confucius. 

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, 
and hold fast, and repent. Rev. 3:3. 

1. God sees the heart. 

2. Nothing can hide the truth from Him. 

3. He is within the heart and knows its every beat. 

4. There can be no hypocrisy, glossing over, palliating or 

excusing to that inner spirit which you all know is 
within you. 

5. But before death many go through a process [of puri¬ 

fication] while yet within their natural bodies. 

6. They think over their sins with such true and perfect 

penitence and would so fully repent and atone were 
their physical condition compatible, that they go 
through the purifying fire of remorse while yet on 
earth and enter [the next life] in the possession of 
divine peace. 

1-6 Cora Linn Daniels. 




298 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 25th. 

Sanctify yourselves and be ye holy; for I am the Lord 
your God. Lev. 20:7. 

Expel grief, fear, desire, envy, malevolence, avarice, 
effeminacy, intemperance. But these can be no otherwise 
expelled than by looking up to God alone, as your pat¬ 
tern; by attaching yourself to Him alone, and being con¬ 
secrated to His commands. Epictetus. 

Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be 
turned; renew our days as of old. Lam. 5:21. 

Bind me, oh, bind me in the bonds of Thy law; bind 
me within and without; hold me tight, let me in the clasp 
of Thy law be bound up together with Thy joy; protect 
me by Thy firm hold from the deadly laxity of sin. 

R. Tagore. 

1. Put off concerning the former conversation the old 

man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful 
lusts; 

2. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 

3. Put on the new man, which after God is created in 

righteousness and true holiness. 

4. Therefore putting away lying, speak every man truth 

with his neighbor: for we are members one of 
another. 

5. Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon 

your wrath; neither give place to the slanderer. 

6. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him 

labour, working with his hands the thing which is 
good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 


1-6 Eph. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


299 


October 26th. 

Every form of unhappiness springs from a wrong con¬ 
dition of mind. James Allen. 

1. I know that there is no good in men, but for them to 

rejoice; to live gladly, joyously, to do good in their 
life, and to unfold as the flowers. 

2. The most manifest sign of wisdom on their part is 

continued cheerfulness; there is no virtue in grief. 

3. Man was made for happiness, to express joy and 

gladness, to be prosperous. 

4. He was “not intended to pick [his] way through the 

world, trembling at every step”. 

5. Despondency is ingratitude; but hope is God’s wor¬ 

ship. 

6. A man, therefore, should live self-composed, cheer¬ 

ful, serene and happy; he should “cultivate cheer¬ 
fulness under all circumstances”. 

7. For to set one’s face “always toward the sunlight is 

just as easy as to see always the shadows and it 
makes all the difference in one’s character”. 

8. By all means, then, let us have joy, since it is merely 

a question of choice. 

9. Let us be cheerful, kind, helpful and patient, no 

matter what others may do to us or say about us. 

10. For every lot is happy to a person who bears it with 
tranquillity; and stupid is that man that lets the 
momentary things make him uneasy, or proud, or 
sorrowful, or impatient, as though they could 
trouble him for long. 

1 Eccles . and Anon. 2 M. Montaigne and G. A. Kratzer. 3 O. S. 
Marden. 4-5 O. Huckel and H. W. Beecher. 6 Buddha and 
W. A. Spinney. 7-8 Nautilus. 9 O. S. Marden. 10 A. M. 
Boethius and M. Aurelius. 




300 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 27th. 

Let them curse, but bless you. Ps. 109:28. 

Being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suffer it; 
being defamed, we entreat. I Cor. 4:12-13. 

Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy 
right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matt. 5:39. 

Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and 
let him reprove me; it shall he an excellent oil, which 
shall not break my head. Ps. 141:5. 

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the 
children of thy people, hut thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself. Lev. 19:18. 

God has given to us eyes, so that we may look upon 
each other with the eyes of the love of God. He has 
granted us hearts so that we may become attached to 
each other. Abdul Baha. 

He cherished the feeling of affection for all beings as if 
they were his only son. Lalita Vistara. 

As a human quality, the glorious significance of affection 
is more than words: it is the tender, unselfish deed done 
in secret; the silent, ceaseless prayer; the self-forgetful 
heart that overflows; the veiled form stealing on an errand 
of mercy, out of a side door; the little feet tripping along 
the sidewalk; the gentle hand opening the door that turns 
toward want and woe, sickness and sorrow and thus light¬ 
ing the dark places of earth. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


301 


October 28th. 

If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your Father which is in 
heaven give good things to them that ask Him? 

Matt. 7:11. 

Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 

John 16:24. 

All things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye 
shall receive. Matt. 21:22. 

Whatever we ask for which is in accord with divine 
wisdom, God will answer. Abdul Bah a. 

God will answer the prayer of every servant, if that 
prayer is urgent. His mercy is vast, illimitable. God 
will answer any one. Abdul Baha. 

Before they call I will answer; and while they are yet 
speaking I will hear. Isa. 65:24. 

Verily, God responds unto those who invoke Him, is 
near unto those who pray unto Him. And He is thy com¬ 
panion in every loneliness, and befriends every exile. 

Abdul Baha. 

Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be 
delivered. Joel 2:32. 

There are many subjects which are difficult for man to 
solve. But during prayer and supplication they are un¬ 
veiled and there is nothing that man cannot find out. 

Abdul Baha. 




302 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 29th. 

Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, 
knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh pa¬ 
tience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye 
may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Jas. 1:2-4. 

Man’s susceptibility to evil is proven to him when he 
falls into the tests, and the tests are continued until the 
soul realizes its own unfitness, then remorse and regret 
tend to root out the weakness. The same test comes again 
in greater degree, until it is shown that a former weak¬ 
ness has become a strength, and the power to overcome 
evil has been established. Abdul Baha. 

Unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall 
have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be 
taken away even that which he hath. Matt. 26:29. 

Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; 
and experience, hope, Rom. 5:3-4. 

The discerning man rejoiceth at the day of trials, his 
breast becometh dilated at the time of severe storms, his 
eyes become brightened when seeing the showers of rain 
and gusts of wind, whereby trees are uprooted; because he 
foreseeth the result and the end of the trials, the leaves, 
blossoms and fruits which follow the wintry storm. 

Abdul Baha. 

Make friends with your trials, as though you were always 
to live together; and you will see that when you cease to 
take thought for your own deliverance, God will take 
thought for you; and when you cease to help yourself 
eagerly, He will help you. St. Francis de Sales. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


303 


October 30th. 

Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. 

I will yield myself completely, unconsciously and finally 
to God. Anxiety and misgiving proceed solely from love 
of self. It is in forgetfulness of self and in trust that man 
finds peace. Job and Fenelon. 

1. Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose 

hope the Lord is. 

2. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. 

3. For whoso puts his trust in the Lord shall be safe. 

4. He is the real friend, whose heart will always be 

infinitely tenderer than yours. 

5. Mistrust yourself, not Him. 

6. Trust to Love! It takes all, but it gives all. 

7. Never abandon yourself so entirely to God, as when 

He seems to abandon you. 

8. And do not be afraid! 

9. You insult God by mistrusting His goodness. 

10. Cast, therefore, your heart firmly and confidently on 

Him, for He does not disappoint them, who by the 
fingers of hope hold to the train of His mercy and 
bounty. 

11. Verily, the hosts of confirmation from the Kingdom 

of God will assist every soul who trusts in God, is 
severed from aught save God, is occupied with the 
commemoration of God and is rejoiced at the Glad- 
Tidings of God. 

12. Therefore, O child of God! Cut yourself from this 

world, rely on the Lord and trust Him, so that you 
may hear the call from above and your face may 
become illuminated with the light shining forth 
from the Kingdom of God. 

1 Jer. 2 Ps. 3 Prov. 4-9 Fenelon. 10 Thomas a Kempis and 
Baha’o’llah. 11-12 Abdul Baha. 




304 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


October 31st. 

The material life of man is a long birth, as it were, an 
embryo state in which the spirit develops, ever longing 
to be born. Cora Linn Daniels. 

It is a comparatively low round of the ladder on which 
man awakens to find himself in this life; it is but the 
beginning of real life; and he is looking forward and is 
advancing into a realm so much larger that all previous 
life will seem insignificant in comparison. H. W. Dresser. 

For all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory 
of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory 
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Cor. 3:18. 

1. Man’s possibilities are infinite, bliss is eternal. 

2. And the consciousness thereof is here and now. 

3. Here and now the soul dwells in an eternal, spiritual 

world, whence it may draw wisdom, life and power 
at need; 

4. Here and now it may transcend the bondage of space 

and time, so that death itself shall lose its terrors, 
and all experiences shall be understood from the 
point of view of progressively higher and higher 
planes. 

5. Here and now it may taste of the bliss of the life of 

the Spirit; and may know, that “the keenest pleasure 
we receive through our sense-life is but the faintest 
suggestion of the gladness of the spirit”. 

1-2 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 3-4 H. W. Dresser. 5 Author and 
C. B. Newcomb. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


305 


November 1st. 

If, O sinful man, thou art now determined to break with 
sin entirely, and henceforth to serve thy God and live to 
Him alone, then thy heavenly Father in His abounding 
goodness will as completely forget thy sins as if they 
never had been committed. The deep love of Him will 
blot out sin’s stains. Do not look at the injury which 
accrues to thyself through sin. He, thy God and Father, 
must alone occupy thy thoughts. J. Tauler. 

1. If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath 

committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that 
which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he 
shall not die. 

2. All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall 

not be mentioned unto him: In his righteousness 
that he hath done shall he live. Have I any pleasure 
at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord 
God: and not that he should return from his ways 
and live? 

3. Therefore repent: turn yourselves from your trans¬ 

gressions and desist from your iniquities: 

4. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your 

doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 
seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the 
fatherless, plead for the widow; 

5. Then come, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: 

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white 
as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall 
be as wool. 

6. For as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure 

in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn 
from his way and live: Turn ye, turn ye from your 
evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 

1-2 Ezek. 3 Jer. 4-5 Jas. 6 Ezek. 




306 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 2nd. 

The goodness of God endureth continually. Ps. 52:1. 

My people shall be satisfied with my goodness. 

Jer. 31:14. 

I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that 
which was driven away, and will bind up that which was 
broken, and will strengthen that which was sick. 

Ezek. 34:16. 

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, 
is God in his holy habitation. Ps. 68:5. 

The Lord will bring them health and cure, and He will 
cure them; and He will reveal unto them the abundance 
of peace and truth. Jer. 36:6. 

God is all—Good—always good, always love. He never 
changes, no matter what we do or may have done. 

E. Cady. 

The world is preserved only because Love is at the heart 
of it; the law of infinite kindness is so kind that it pro¬ 
tects man even against his own ignorance and sin. 

Anon. 

Every poor man will become rich, every darkened soul 
will become illumined, every ignorant one will become 
wise, because the confirmations of the Holy Spirit are 
descending like unto torrents. A new era of Divine con¬ 
sciousness is upon us. Abdul Baha. 

Verily, “one who knows that he is encompassed by only 
good, folded around by safety, enveloped by Spirit, is 
guarded, protected, safe indeed”. 


H. Stowe. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


307 


November 3d. 

1. The Lord is my Rock, and my Fortress, and my De¬ 

liverer; in Him will I trust. 

2. He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my 

high tower, and my refuge, my saviour. 

3. He is my strength and song, and He is become my 

salvation: He is my God. 

4. In Him have I put my trust: And I will not be afraid. 

5. For He is good unto them that wait for Him, to the 

soul that seeketh Him; 

6. Wherefore sought I the Lord, and He heard me, and 

delivered me from all my fears. 

7. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil, and 

will preserve me unto His heavenly Kingdom. 

8. O happy are they that have the God of Jacob for 

their help, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 

9. Happy are they that know His name and put their 

trust in Him. For He doth not forsake them that 
seek Him. 

10. Trust, therefore, in the Lord, ye men of doubtful 

mind, for He can do all things. 

11. And be of good courage. He shall strengthen your 

heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. 

12. Yea, trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out 

your heart before Him: God is a refuge lor us. 

13. Verily, He is our hope; He is our trust from our 

youth up. 

14. Our eyes are unto Him, the Lord God; in Him is our 

trust. 

15. Unto Thee, O Lord, do we lift up our soul. 

16. O God, we trust in Thee. 

1-2 Sam. 3 Ex. 4 Ps. 5 Lam. 6 Ps. 7 Tim. 8-9 Ps. 10 St. 
Hermas. 11-16 Ps. 




308 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 4th. 

It is Divine guidance which is greater than all things. 

Jesus. 

As you grow ready for it, somewhere or other you will 
find what is needful for you in a book or a friend, or, 
best of all, in your own thought—the eternal thought 
speaking to your thought. G. Macdonald. 

The right thought comes in the fitness of time to those 
who quietly await it. H. W. Dresser. 

. . . Follow under all circumstances the highest 
promptings within you; ... be always true to the divine 
self; . . . rely upon the inward light, the inward voice, 
and . . . pursue your purpose with a fearless and rest¬ 
ful heart. James Allen. 

Under all circumstances do that which you believe to be 
right. J. Allen. 

When in doubt, one should be true to the best one 
knows. H. W. Dresser. 

The voice of conscience always whispers to us the right 
thing to think, say, and do. L. H. Eastman. 

Once make up your mind never to stand waiting and 
hesitating when your conscience tells you what you ought 
to do, and you have the key to every blessing that a sinner 
can reasonably hope for. J. Keble. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 309 


November 5th. 

Just being happy is a fine thing to do, 

Looking on the bright side rather than the blue; 

Sad or sunny musing 
Is largely in the choosing, 

And just being happy is brave work and true. 

Just being happy helps other souls along; 

Their burdens may be heavy, and they not strong; 

And your own sky will lighten, 

When other skies you brighten 

By just being happy with a heart full of song. 

F. Saunders. 

1. Oh, what riches live in a joyful, sweet and sunny soul! 

What a blessed heritage is a sunny face, a sweet dis¬ 
position! What joy to be able to fling out sunshine 
wherever one goes, to scatter shadows and lighten 
sorrow-laden hearts! 

2. We should cultivate an open nature, a kindly manner, 

a generous spirit. We should not be stingy with our 
cordiality, our praise, our helpfulness. 

3. Let us fling out our best to everybody, every time. Let 

us learn to say pleasant things to people, and about 
them, to do generous things, and we will be sur¬ 
prised to see how our life will enlarge, our soul 
expand, and our whole nature become enriched and 
ennobled. 

4. There are more hearts hungering for love and sym¬ 

pathy than for money, and these we can always give. 
And the habit of wishing everybody well, of feel¬ 
ing like giving everybody a Godspeed, ennobles and 
beautifies the character wonderfully. 


1-4 0. S. Marden. 




310 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 6th. 

I have fought a good fight. 1 have finished my course, 
I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me 
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous 
judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but 
unto all them also that love His appearing. 

II Tim. 4:7-8. 

Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, pa¬ 
tience, meekness; fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on 
eternal life. I Tim. 6:12. 

He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting 
softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, whose 
spirit is entering into living peace. J. Ruskin. 

You are not bound to win, but you are bound to be true; 
you are not bound to succeed, but you are bound to live 
up to what light you have. A. Lincoln. 

1. Forsake the things of the world, and be engaged in 

praising your Lord; so that His Holy Spirit may 
assist you, and make you a sign of faith and illumine 
your heart with the light of assurance; 

2. That you may be invested with a robe, the embroidery 

of which is purity and sanctity and the woof and 
warp of which is the spirituality of the Mighty Lord; 
and so to be divested of the mantle of bodily things 
that angelhood and ideal spirituality become realized 
in you. 

3. To be faithful and truthful in word, confident in 

heart, attracted in spirit, pure in intention, patient 
in hardship, characterized with a God-like nature 
and disposition, manner and morals. 

1-3 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 311 


November 7th. 

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Ps. 

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, 
and His ways past finding out. 

For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has 
been His counsellor? Or who has first given to Him, 
and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? 

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all 
things: to Him be glory for ever. Amen. Rom. 11:33-36. 

1. 0 Lord, how manifold are Thy works; in wisdom hast 

Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches. 

2. Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth: and 

the heavens are the works of Thy hands. 

3. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of 

them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt 
Thou change them, and they shall be changed: 

4. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no 

end. 

5. Who is like unto Thee, 0 Lord, glorious in holiness, 

fearful in praises, doing wonders? 

6. Thou art worthy to receive glory and honor and 

power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy 
pleasure they are and were created. 

7. All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and wor¬ 

ship before Thee, 0 Lord; and shall glorify Thy 
name. 

8. For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things; Thou 

art God alone. 


1-4 Ps. 5 Ex. 6 Rev. 7-8 Ps. 




312 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 8th. 

Should the Lord treat justly, we are all sinners and 
deserve to be deprived; 

And should He observe mercy, every sinner shall be 
made pure and every stranger shall become a friend. 

Abdul Baha. 

1. As to painful and humiliating thoughts turning up con¬ 

cerning our past sins, our present faults, or our 
temporal affairs, we must treat them as the sensitive¬ 
ness of self-love: Our pain at all these things is more 
humiliating than the things themselves. 

2. The least error, indeed, should humble, but even the 

greatest should never discourage and utterly hu¬ 
miliate us. 

3. For disgrace clings to no man after repentance, any 

more than the feet defiled with the mud of the 
world come yet soiled and polluted from the cleans¬ 
ing bath. 

4. Verily, sin shall be no shame to man, but worship. 

For just as to every sin is answering a pain by truth, 
right so, for every sin, to the same soul is given a 
bliss by Love. 

5. And “each single incident or experience, small or great, 

whether it be innocent joy and brave enterprise, 
whether it be sad patience or dreary endurance, 
whether it be sin or shame, weaves and resolves 
itself, at last, into the heavenly harmony”; and “there 
is awaiting us a joy in which even our most abject 
failures, our ugliest transgressions, will bear their 
part; a joy, indeed, which could not be perfect with¬ 
out them.” 

1 Fenelon. 3 C. H. Spurgeon. 4 St. Julian of Norwich. 5 A. 
C. Benson. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


313 


November 9th. 

You are not cut off from the Divine except in your 
own belief. Rise up O [child] of God, and shake off 
the nightmare of sin which binds you. James Allen. 

Faith is required at our hands, and a sincere life; not 
height of understanding, nor the depths of the mysteries 
of God. Thomas a Kempis. 

As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. 

Matt 8:13. 

To give thanks at all times is not only a passport to 
serener conditions, but acts as a talisman transforming 
the soul itself. Outer shadows would speedily disperse 
before the light of this quality wedded to faith. 

M. B. Wallace. 

1. To believe is to be happy; to doubt is to be wretched. 

To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. 
Belief is power. 

2. Only so far as a man believes strongly, mightily, can 

he act cheerfully, or do anything that is worth the 
doing. 

3. Feeble are we? Yes, without God we are nothing. 

But what, by faith, every man may be, God requires 
him to be. 

4. To live vigorously, we must live by faith. Our nour¬ 

ishment is unseen, hut real. 

5. Those who are doing the most to uplift the world are 

those whose intensity of faith first reconstructed 
their own souls. 

6. Doubt is disintegration. It leads into the slough of 

despond. It is leaden, nerveless and cowardly. 

1-2 F. W. Robertson. 3 H. Bushnell. 4-6 H. Wood. 





314 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 10 th. 

Be not slothful, but followers of them who through 
faith and patience inherit the promises. Heb. 6:12. 

“Live your best! To do this get into the work your 
soul calls you to do, the work you most desire”. For “you 
have a work to do that is all your own,—a beautiful task 
to perform”. Do not mind the obstacles! “Obstacles mean 
opportunities. The opportunity is all there is”. 

M. Allen. 

1. . . . Life is an ever-present opportunity. Circum¬ 

stances, however difficult, are always, without excep¬ 
tion, opportunities, and not limitations; but a lost 
opportunity is the greatest of losses. Unimproved 
opportunities will rebuke us when we attempt to 
claim the benefits of an experience we have not made 
our own. 

2. Let us improve, therefore, each moment as it flies; 

let us do everything conscientiously; let us be jealous 
of the purity of our motives; let us be diligent in 
prayer; in the crosses and annoyances of the day 
let us regard the will of God who sends them, and 
take them accordingly with sweetness and buoyancy 
of spirit; let us cultivate the habit of allowing the 
objects of nature and passing events to remind us of 
spiritual truth, and lead our mind upwards; 

3. In short, let us turn each incident of life into a 

spiritual exercise, and extract from each a spiritual 
good—then we are really improving our opportuni¬ 
ties; for we are cultivating the internal life while 
we engage in the external; and while, on the one 
hand, we are expending the oil of grace, we are, on 
the other, laying in a fresh stock of it in our oil- 
vessels. 

1 C. B. Newcomb, A. P. Call and Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2-3 H. 

Johnson, Anon, and E. M. Goulburn. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


315 


November 11th. 

I laugh and shout for life is good. Helen Keller. 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him 
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that 
bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; 
that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Isa. 52:7. 

Every man may through gladness, love, work and play, 
move steadily towards the heights, inspired by courage, 
kindness and gentleness of heart, thinking every day of 
the Master, until at last he comes to his own, where all is 
joy and peace. G. Kleiser. 

The spiritual love of God maketh man pure and holy 
and clotheth him with the garment of virtue and purity. 
And when man attacheth his heart wholly to God the 
divine bounty will dawn. Abdul Baha. 

1. How amiable are Thy tabernacles, 0 Lord of Hosts; 

2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of 

the Lord: 

3. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 

4. A day in Thy courts is better than a thousand. 

5. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, 

than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

6. For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield: the Lord will 

give grace and glory: 

7. No good thing will He withhold from them that walk 

uprightly. 

8. 0 Lord of Hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in 

Thee. 


1-8 Ps. 




316 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 12th. 

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort 
you. Isa. 66:13. 

Our fathers trusted in Thee: They trusted, and Thou 
didst deliver them. Ps. 22:4. 

Man disquiets himself in a vain shadow. 

He is a victim to his own fears and to false concepts, 
which shut out the light of truth and diminish his native 
energy. Thomas a Kempis, and S. D. Kirkham. 

Anger and worry are simply bad habits of the mind, . . . 
their elimination is a purely mental process within the 
control of every intelligent person, who has sufficient self- 
respect to recognize within himself the reflection of the 
Divine image. H. Fletcher. 

He who can leave all things with God has remaining no 
unrest. Christian Science Journal. 

Naught shall befall us, save that which God has decreed 
unto us. Baha’o’llah. 

You have nothing to do but to surrender yourself to 
God each day, without looking further; He will carry you 
in His arms as a tender mother bears her child. 

Fenelon. 

Always at night remember to lay aside all the cares of 
the day, all thoughts of outward matters, all anxieties or 
fears. Cast these off as you would a garment. Lie down 
to sleep in perfect peace, realizing that you are beneath 
the Divine care, folded in the Heavenly love and beauty. 

M. B. Wallace. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


317 


November 13th. 

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a 
good word maketh it glad. Prov. 12:25. 

1. The actions and states of mind that result in a feeling 

of gladness and freedom . . . are the right actions 
and mental states for us. Joy brings us very close to 
the heart of things—very close to God. 

2. Gloom, despondency, discouragement and fear are signs 

of missing the way, and the eyes must be lifted up 
and the Divine will sought with prayer and medita¬ 
tion until the normal state of peace and joy returns. 
It is both natural and spiritual to be joyous. And we 
were made to radiate the perfume of good cheer 
and happiness as much as a rose was made to radiate 
its sweetness to every passerby; but there is no duty 
we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. 

3. The birds are always singing in our heavens, the light 

is always shining, help is always near, and our 
mountains are always full of invisible hosts sent for 
our deliverance; yet how often we are deaf to the 
melodies and blind to the brightness and power be¬ 
cause our fears have closed the avenues of spiritual 
perception. 

4. Let us, then, open our eyes and our ears to the better 

world. Let us rise up out of the valley of despair 
and despondency, out of the miasma which has 
poisoned the air around us, out of the foulness which 
has suffocated us, into the atmosphere of joy and 
courage. And the joy of life will be our strength 
to solve our problems; and “by joy we will enter 
with Him into the fulness of life”. 

1 C. B. Patterson. 2 A. R. Militz, Anon and R. L. Stevenson. 3 
G. B. Newcomb. 4 0. S. Marden, E. Towne and Master Mind. 




318 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 14th. 

To ascertain our progress, we must learn where our 
affections are placed and whom we acknowledge and obey 
as God. 

If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer, and more 
real to us, matter is then submitting to Spirit. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

That which God has desired for Himself is the hearts of 
His servants, which are treasures of praise and love of the 
Lord and stores of divine knowledge and wisdom. And it 
is ever His will to purify the hearts of His servants from 
the promptings of the world and what is therein, so that 
they may be prepared for illumination by the effulgences 
of the Lord. Baha’o’llah. 

1. I call heaven and earth to record this day against 

thee, that I have set before thee life and death, bless¬ 
ing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both 
thou and thy seed may live: 

2. That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and thou 

mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave 
unto Him: 

3. For He is thy life, and the length of thy days. 

4. And what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but 

to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, 
and to love Him; 

5. And to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and 

with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the 
Lord, and His statutes, which I command thee this 
day for thy good? 

6. For the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, 

which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that 
love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand 
generations. 

1-6 Deut. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


319 


November 15th. 

Open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, 
and to thy needy, in thy land. Deut. 15:11. 

The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you 
as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thy¬ 
self. Lev. 19:34. 

Imitate God in His goodness; be towards thy fellow 
creatures as He is towards the whole creation. Be a 
brother to the children of thy Father. Talmud. 

Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no 
good. W. Penn. 

No evil that the soul dreads can come upon him who is 
kind and protects all creatures. Cural. 

Kind words are the music of the world. There is hardly 
a power on earth equal to them. It is by voice and words 
that men influence each other. Happiness and kindness 
go together. The double rewards of kind words is the 
happiness they cause in others and the happiness they 
cause in ourselves. F. W. Faber. 

1. The weakest, the humblest must realize that it is pos¬ 

sible for him in his daily course to shed around 
himself almost a heaven. 

2. Kindly words, sympathizing attention, watchfulness 

against wounding men’s sensitiveness,—these cost 
very little, but they are priceless in their value. 

3. Are they not almost the staple of our daily happiness? 

4. From hour to hour, from moment to moment, we are 

supported, blest by small kindnesses. 

1-4 F. W. Robertson. 





320 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 16th. 

Thou art near, O Lord. 

Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall 
I flee from Thy presence? 

Thou hast searched me and known me. 

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. 

Thou understandest my thoughts afar oft. 

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art 
acquainted with all my ways. 

For there is no word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou 
knowest it altogether. Ps. and Prov. 

1. There is nothing so near the inmost heart of man 

as God. 

2. He is near man, He is with Him, He is within him. 

3. As a sacred spirit is He resident in him; 

4. And no bounds and no barriers separate Him from 

the soul. 

5. Oh, the joy of that ineffable communion, the deep, 

calm, abiding joy. 

6. What repose is ours in the love which sustains us, 

what guidance, what insight, what strength. 

7. Every man is directly open to the presence of God; 

8. And by filling one’s consciousness with the thought of 

God one may change the current of life and regain 
health. 

9. For the Divine Presence is, concretely regarded, an 

ever-ready power adequate to meet all occasions, 
ready to guide and sustain. 

10. And it is an active presence of God in whose stream 
of creative tendency our life is immersed and from 
whom we can draw unlimited life, and wisdom, and 
power. 

1 J. Tauler. 2-3 Seneca. 4-10 II. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


321 


November 17 th. 

God has preferred the insight to the sight, because the 
sight sees the material things, while the insight apprehends 
the spiritual. Baha’o’llah. 

The deep life of the present is the deep life in the 
Spirit who owns all time. 

Seek him, seek the Spirit, and all that is just and wise 
will follow. H. W. Dresser. 

Let us turn our thoughts from the body to that which 
alone made the body dear to us, the loving and imperish¬ 
able Intelligence that animates it. C. B. Newcomb. 

1. It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth 

nothing; it is the Spirit which animates, not any 
other power; mind dominates matter. 

2. Things spiritual and eternal are substantial. Things 

material and temporal are insubstantial. 

3. Ideas are the only realities; ideas are facts in them¬ 

selves, while the transient transmutation of them 
into a material form does not affect them one way or 
the other. 

4. Indeed, “the idea is the fact. The material form is 

only the manifestation of that fact”. 

5. The mere putting it into a visible form is but the 

throwing a filmy mantle around a statue. 

6. And “the material man is only the soil in which the 

germ of spiritual consciousness shall unfold and 
come to fruition”. 

1 St. John and Cora Linn Daniels. 2 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 3-5 
Cora Linn Daniels. 6 S. D. Kirkham. 




322 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 18th. 

As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Prov. 23:7. 

Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit 
of their thought. Jer. 6:19. 

Occupy your mind with thoughts of purity, kindness 
and love, and you will energize every organ and vitalize 
every function. K. H. Newton. 

Spiritual forces rule the world, and our connection with 
them is through thought. A. Cunningham. 

If mortal thought is eternal, certainly spiritual thought 
is so. Heaven is made up of thought utterance in every 
possible form, and each of these is enjoyed forever. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

The inner workings of your mind are your spiritual 
growth. Cora Linn Daniels. 

We should have all our principles ready for use on every 
occasion. Epictetus. 

We experience the beneficial effect of elevating thought, 
rid ourselves of morbid, unhealthy, or dispiriting states 
of mind with their bodily accompaniments in proportion as 
we dwell on some ideal or keep before us a fixed purpose, 
until by persistent effort the goal is won. H. W. Dresser. 

By maintaining the mournful attitude, we show our want 
of faith in the goodness of things as much as when we 
fear. We have only to wait, be patient, renew our ideals 
day by day, remember that ideas have regenerative life 
and a natural law of growth, then act. H. W. Dresser. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


323 


November 19th. 

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the 
Lord. Jonah 2:7. 

1. Let us become inwardly calm, restful, trustful. 

2. Let us open out in thoughts of hope and thanks¬ 

giving. 

3. Let us rejoice that the Spirit is here. 

4. He who is despondent, pessimistic, has not yet reached 

the spiritual plane. 

5. There is something ugly in him which he has not yet 

overcome. Consequently, he reads his own state of 
mind or body into the universe. 

6. Let us learn to trust and rejoice; let us learn to 

master our moods, to direct our thoughts; 

7. And when fearful or depressed not to listen to our¬ 

selves; for our real convictions, if we will follow 
them simply, will put to flight all phantoms. 

8. Indeed, when once we understand the relationship 

of the lower and the higher consciousness, and learn 
how our moods are conditioned by the body, we 
should be enabled to live continually in the superior 
realm, and not any more be compelled to give way 
to our own thoughts. 

9. This last is the real source of our worst troubles. 

10. We may say, to be sure, that we cannot help heeding 

our own reasoning, because it seems so plain. But 
let us beware! for suspicious, indocile people say 
the same; 

11. To the sickly, earthly eye all is perverted, and it is 

our duty to silence ourselves by the simple, quiet 
resolution to leave all to God, and to give ourselves 
up to His grace. 

1-5 H.W. Dresser. 6 O. S. Marden. 7-11 Fenelon. 




324 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 20th. 

The best provision is piety. Koran. 

O son of man! You desire gold, and God desires your 
separation from it. You have realized therein the riches 
of yourself, while He realizes your wealth to consist in 
the freedom from it. This is His knowledge, while that 
is your imagining. Verily, in wealth fear is concealed and 
peril is hidden. Baha’o’llah. 

Seek not that which perisheth, labour not to be rich. 

Proverbs. 

1. Sever yourself from all desires save your Lord, the 

Supreme, expecting no help or aid from any one or 
anything in the world. Kesign yourself to God! 

2. Content yourself with hut little of this world’s goods! 

3. Verily, godliness with contentment is great gain. 

4. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is cer¬ 

tain we can carry nothing out. 

5. And having food and raiment let us he therewith 

content. 

6. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a 

snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which 
drown men in destruction and perdition. 

7. For the love of money is the root of all evil. 

8. Wherefore we charge them that are rich in this world, 

that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain 
riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly 
all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be 
rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to 
communicate; laying up in store for themselves a 
good foundation against the time to come; that they 
may lay hold on eternal life. 

1-2 Abdul Baha. 3-8 Tim . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


325 


November 21st. 

Our shortcomings are many, but the sea of God’s for¬ 
giveness is boundless. Abdul Baha. 

He is a God that pardons iniquity; He does not retain 
His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. 

He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; 
He will subdue our iniquities; and will cast all our sins 
into the depths of the sea. Micah. 

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 

Tim. 

1. Love is the Saviour of the world. And Love knows no 

limit of loving. Yea, “Love has only one punish¬ 
ment for the sinner, and that is forgiveness”. 

2. There is not a single sinner in the world whom God 

will not pardon if he comes to Him. For no offense 
is too great to be pardoned. And there is no man 
so far gone, but the grace of God can reach him. 
No man so desperate or black, but He can forgive 
him. 

3. The greatest sinner can take of the water of life, just 

as well as the man who can say of all the command¬ 
ments, “All these have I kept from my youth up”. 

4. Yea, no human being lives on earth so bad or base, 

so stupid or worldly, so utterly corrupt and worth¬ 
less, but that God is ready to kindle in his soul a 
fire of love which will wholly consume this evil. 

1 Master Mind and M. Collins. 2 St. Francis de Sales, Albitis 
and D. L. Moody. 3 H. Darling. 4 J. Wesley. 




326 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 22nd. 

God is able to make all grace abound toward you. 

// Cor. 9:8. 

I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may 
fear Me for ever, for the good of them, and of their chil¬ 
dren after them. Jer. 32:39. 

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them 
how we will. Shakespeare. 

Life, both on earth and in spirit, is a progress. Expe¬ 
rience is the teacher, God the helper. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

When this hour of development comes, even if you cling 
to a sense of personal joys, spiritual Love will force you 
to accept what best promotes your growth. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

The perfect order of the universe causes every soul to 
find its own level and exact place, by the same unfailing 
law that builds the marvellous architecture of snow crystal 
and flower, and provides for the progress of each soul as 
surely as for the sweep of the planets on their mighty 
course. J. F. Clarke. 

Every soul “is aroused and helped, fed and clothed with 
knowledge and truth until its past carrier of evil on the 
earth is so blotted from its consciousness that the earth- 
life becomes like a dream—of no meaning or moment, 
save as the embryo stage of a progress which it has forever 
left behind”. Cora Linn Daniels. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


327 


November 23d. 

In patient obedience to a patient God, let us labor to 
dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of 
error,—self-will, self-justification, and self-love,—which 
wars against spirituality and is the law of sin and death. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. Let us sacrifice our own wills, as opportunity serves, 

to the will of others; let us bear without notice 
sights and sounds that annoy us; let us set about 
our tasks, when we had rather be doing something 
very different; persevere in it, when we are thor¬ 
oughly tired of it. 

2. Let us keep company for duty’s sake, when it would 

be a great joy to us to be by ourselves. 

3. In patience let us bear all the trifling untoward acci¬ 

dents of life: bodily pain and weakness long con¬ 
tinued, and perplexing us often when it does not 
amount to illness; losing what we value; missing 
what we desire; disappointment in other persons; 
wilfulness, unkindness, ingratitude, folly, in cases 
where we least expect it. 

4. Let us bear all without murmuring, that we may be 

blameless, the children of God, without rebuke; 

5. And let us remember that Christ also suffered for us, 

leaving us an example, that we should follow his 
steps: 

6. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 

who when he was reviled, reviled not again; when 
he suffered he threatened not; but committed him¬ 
self to Him that judgeth righteously: Who his own 
self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that 
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteous¬ 
ness: by whose stripes we are healed. 

1-3 J. Keble. 4 Phil. 5-6 Pet. 




328 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 24th. 

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to 
dwell together in unity. 

How good is love, and how pleasant its language. 

The language of love is the lodestone of hearts and the 
food of the soul. Ps. and Baha’o’llah. 

Let us strive with all our powers in diffusing the spirit 
of love and real union among the people, so that all who 
are on earth become one family, loving, united, agreed, 
bound by the bonds of love, and united with all harmony 
in all things and conditions. For the universe is, in 
reality, but one great city full of beloved ones, divine and 
human, by nature endeared to each other. 

Abdul Baha and Anon. 

1. Let the good-will that is boundless, immeasurable, im¬ 

partial, unmixed with enmity, prevail in thee. 

2. Canopied with gentleness, thou shalt bless where others 

curse; love where others hate; forgive where others 
condemn; yield where others strive; give up where 
others grasp ; lose where others gain. And in their 
strength they shall be weak; and in thy weakness 
thou shalt be strong. 

3. To live in love is to work in joy. Love is the magic 

that transforms all things into power and beauty. 
Love is the one thing needful. 

4. Verily, the attracting power of the love of God should 

so completely unite the hearts of men in love, that 
all hearts beat as a single heart; the arteries of all 
mankind should pulsate with the love of God, and 
the joys of spirituality should prevail over material 
pleasures. 

1 Buddha. 2-3 James Allen. 4 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


329 


November 25th. 

Death is “a simple incident, a momentary break of un¬ 
consciousness between one hour and another”. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

I made death for thee a glad-tidings: Why art thou in 
despair at its approach? Baha’o’llah. 

By death we come into a far closer, more intimate reali¬ 
zation of God’s presence, of His life in us, and our life 
in Him. W. T. Stead. 

For we all shall join Him, even you, every man and 
every human being. Not soon, not perhaps for centuries, 
but finally; and every moment of your time, and every 
impulse of good, by which we measure ours, brings each 
to the sweet, bright boundary, which, set like a wall of 
precious stone about the Throne, is inscribed forever and 
ever with the meaning: Holiness unto the Lord! 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. These are they which came out of great tribulation, 

and have washed their robes, and made them white 
in the blood of the Lamb. 

2. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve 

Him day and night in His temple: 

3. And He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among 

them. 

4. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; 

neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 

5. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall 

feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains 
of water: 

6. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 
1-6 Rev. 




330 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 26th. 

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the 
first and great commandment. And the second is like 
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 

Matt. 22:37-39. 

The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our 
fathers: Let Him not leave us, nor forsake us: That He 
may incline our hearts unto Him, to walk in all His ways, 
and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His 
judgments, which He commanded our fathers. 

I Kings 8:57-58. 

Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God 
hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may 
be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days. 

Deut. 5:33. 

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so 
walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him, and stab- 
lished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding 
therein with thanksgiving. Col. 2:6-7. 

See that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore 
be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the 
Lord is. Eph. 5:15-17. 

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that 
giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it 
shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing 
wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea 
driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man 
think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A 
double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. 

Jas. 1:5-8. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


331 


November 27th. 

1. O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; 

2. For His mercy endureth for ever. 

3. It is good to bless God and exalt His name, showing 

forth with honor the works of God. 

4. For all things proceed from Him; 

5. And therefore, in all He is to he praised. 

6. I will praise Him with all my heart; 

7. And I will glorify His name for evermore; 

8. For great is His mercy toward me. 

9. I will sing of His power; 

10. Yea, I will sing aloud of His mercy: 

11. For He has been my defense and refuge in the day of 

my trouble. 

12. He is my strength and my shield; 

13. My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: 

14. Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; 

15. And with my song will I praise Him. 

16. Because His lovingkindness is better than life, my lips 

shall praise Him. 

17. Thus will I bless Him while I live. 

18. Yea, blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with 

benefits, even the God of our salvation. 

19. From the rising of the sun unto the going down 

of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised. 

20. Praise our God, all ye servants, and ye that fear Him, 

both small and great. 

21. For it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, 

and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High; 

22. To shew forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, 

and Thy faithfulness every night. 

1-2 Chron. 3 Tobit. 4—5 Thomas A Kempis. 6-19 Ps. 20 Rev. 
21-22 Ps. 




332 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 28th. 

O God of our salvation, who art the confidence of all 
the ends of the earth. Ps. 65:5. 

We must realize the whole world in Love; Love gives it 
birth, sustains it, and takes it back to its bosom. 

For behind this world and its mysteries there is He 
whose name is Love, He who loves us heart to heart. He 
who is manifesting His love to us in a thousand ways, He 
the center and the heart of the world. 

R. Tagore and O. Huckel. 

Whichever way we turn, there Love awaits us, for Love 
is always there first. W. J. Welch. 

Fed by Thy Love divine we live, for Love alone is Life. 
Seek in divine Love the remedy for all human discord. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. Even when we refuse to listen and to be guided, Love 

is ever here, knowing our needs, tenderly watching 
over our troubled days and hours. So that not even 
the sin of sins separates us from the transcendental 
world of His tender care, His unspeakable peace. 

2. How wonderful and precious is this knowledge and 

certainty of the love of God! 

3. For who will, and how can we doubt it? 

4. We live in it. It is the greatest, the only real thing; 

5. While the sins and sorrows of the earth-life will be 

one day but as shadows that flee away. 


1 H. W. Dresser. 4 W. T. Stead. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


333 


November 29th. 

Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, and 
believe also in me. John 14:1. 

Replace your doubting, restless, distrustful, faithless 
attitude to God by a trustful and confident faith in Him. 

0. Huckel. 

Faith full-fledged, soaring to the Horeb height, brings 
blessings infinite. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

You ask for consolation; why, you are standing on the 
fountain’s edge, though you will not stoop to drink. Peace 
and comfort will only be found in obedience. 

You will receive according to your faith—much, if you 
believe fervently; nothing, if you go on heeding your 
foolish fancies. Fenelon. 

1. Doubt is paralyzing; it is the way of death. 

2. Faith, belief, conviction, are vitalizing and are the 

way of life. 

3. The tendency to depression—one that is apt to visit a 

sensitive nature not sufficiently identified with the 
life of God to counteract this tendency—should be 
resisted as vigorously as any form of positive vice. 

4. It is the destructive force. Faith is constructive, and 

creates even that in which it believes. 

5. The future is always moulded out of the inner thought 

and convictions. 

6. Let one lift up his heart. Let him realize that it rests 

within his own choice to be a partaker of the divine 
life. 


1-6 L. Whiting. 




334 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


November 30th. 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God, Almighty, which was, and 
is, and is to come. Rev. 4:8. 

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the 
day: Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us 
watch and be sober. I Thess. 5:5-6. 

Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the 
breast-plates of faith and love; and for an helmet, the 
hope of salvation. I Thess. 5:8. 

As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in 
all manner of conversation. I Pet. 1:15. 

Stand in dread of guilt, and deem the smallest offence 
great. Desatir. 

Be steadfast in prayer, and give alms; and whatever 
good ye send before for your own souls, ye shall find it 
with God, for God in all ye do doth see. Koran. 

Fear God, and keep His commandments: For this is the 
whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work unto 
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or 
whether it be evil. Eccles. 12:13-14. 

Sanctify the Lord God in your heart. I Pet. 3:15. 

Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that 
seek Him with the whole heart. Ps. 119:2. 

The more you improve and develop, the brighter and 
more spacious becomes the pathway to the Kingdom. 

Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


335 


December 1st. 

Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
end be like his! Num. 23:10. 

The purified righteous man has become a coin of the 
Lord, and has the impress of his king stamped upon him. 

Clement of Alexandria. 

Goodness and love mould the form into their own 
image, and cause the joy and beauty of love to shine forth 
from every part of the face. When this form of love is 
seen, it appears ineffably beautiful, and affects with de¬ 
light the immost life of the soul. Swedenborg. 

If we desire a noble and holy life, and unceasingly 
pray to God for it, if we continue constant in this our 
desire, it will be granted unto us without fail even if only 
in the day or hour of our death; and if God should not 
give it to us then, we shall find it in Him in eternity. To 
all eternity it shall be better for us than if we had never 
had these aspirations. J. Tauler. 

1. The crown of goodness lies upon each forehead. 

2. The joy of goodness beams from each countenance; 

3. The rest of goodness calms every expression; 

4. The glorious strength and energy of goodness lead the 

way to ever-receding heights. 

5. And “like the bud, the half-blown rose, the rose in 

its perfumed splendor, each beautiful and perfect 
in its stage, are those beings, who, not any more as¬ 
suming the indefinitiveness of change, as in earthly 
life, are at all times perfect as to form, according 
to the glory within them”. 

1-5 Cora Linn Daniels. 




336 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 2nd. 

Without me ye can do nothing. John 14:5. 

It is good for me to draw near to God. Ps. 73:28. 

I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, 
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for 
all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that 
we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness 
and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight 
of God, our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, 
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there 
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the 
man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be 
testified in due time. I Tim. 2:1-3. 

1. Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of Thee; Thou 

only knowest what I need; 

2. Thou lovest me better than I know how to love my¬ 

self. 

3. 0 Father! Give to Thy child that which he himself 

knows not how to ask. 

4. I dare not ask either for crosses or consolations; I 

simply present myself before Thee; I open my 
heart to Thee. 

5. Behold my needs which I know not myself; 

6. See, and do according to Thy tender mercy. 

7. Smite, or heal; depress me, or raise me up; 

8. I adore all Thy purposes without knowing them; 

9. I am silent; I offer myself in sacrifice; I yield my¬ 

self to Thee; 

10. I would have no other desire than to accomplish Thy 

will. 

11. Teach me to pray; pray Thyself in me. Amen. 

1-11 Fenelon. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


337 


December 3d. 

When He slew them, then they sought Him; and they 
returned and inquired early after God. And they remem¬ 
bered that God was their Rock, and the High God their 
Redeemer. Ps. 78:34-35. 

Our disappointments and ceaseless woes turn us like 
tired children to the arms of divine Love. 

Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

It seems as if men spent their time pulling and tug¬ 
ging against the very laws that are their true life. It is 
right in its way—it means education, domination, progress. 

Cora Linn Daniels. 

When we take into account the great height to which 
we have to ascend, all that we must know and be, we see 
that the end justifies the means. H. W. Dresser. 

When thou findest the way to the kingdom, the earthly 
world shall be of no account; and when thou art illumined 
the darkness will not affect thee. Abdul Bah a. 

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows. 
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service. 
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily 
trifles. And give me the strength to surrender my strength 
to Thy will with love. R. Tagore. 

To lose self that one may find it is the essence of 
spiritual healing; for invariably there is too great con¬ 
sciousness of self whenever there is illness and trouble. 
When this higher consciousness comes—the intuition of 
life’s wholeness, its beauty, its system and meaning—there 
comes with it a sense of contentment, of joy in existence, 
which nothing can destroy, and heart, mind and body are 
healed by recognition of one’s union with the spirit and 
love of God. H. W. Dresser. 




338 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 4th. 

With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salva¬ 
tion. Isa. 12. 

He went on his way rejoicing. Acts 8:39. 

You seem, as long as you live, to be subject to mutabil¬ 
ity, even against your will; now merry, another while 
sad; one while quiet, another while troubled, now devout, 
then indevout; now diligent, then listless; now grave and 
then light, [in correspondence with your health, surround¬ 
ings and impressions]. Thomas a Kempis. 

“The life on earth is indeed one of conflict for all ear¬ 
nest souls”. But “this conflict is not necessarily sorrowful. 
It can and should be essentially joyous, a heroic mastery 
over circumstances whereof the soul should always feel 
itself king”. M. B. Wallace. 

Not that your present life lacks joy; it is all joy, but 
you have to fight with imperfections. B. King. 

The sea, the sky, the flowers of the earth, all are Divine 
messengers. Welcome them, receive their gifts and re¬ 
joice, sharing that joy that shineth forever from the 
glorious Spirit of the Creator. M. B. Wallace. 

The greatest happiness lies in the happiness of others. 

Abdul Baha. 

If in these visible days and present world, matters ap¬ 
pear from the Realm of Decree contrary to your wish, be 
ye not depressed; for happy and Divine days shall come 
and spiritual worlds of holiness shall become manifest, 
were ye to exchange the garment of mortality and enter 
the station of the paradise of God. Baha’o’llah. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


339 


December 5th. 

There is no real life but cheerful life. J. Addison. 
Living . . . should be an exuberant joy. H. Wood. 
Live the joy-life all the time. The more you live it, the 
easier it will be to live it. Nautilus. 

There is no serving God in unhappiness when the un¬ 
happiness is of our own making. But let us serve Him in 
the sunshine while He makes the sun shine. 

F. W. Faber. 

Rejoice always in the Lord; and give thanks at the re¬ 
membrance of His holiness. Be ready to the rewards of 
the Kingdom, for the everlasting light shall shine upon 
you for evermore. Flee the shadow of this world, receive 
the joyfulness of your glory. 0 receive that which is 
given you of the Lord, and be joyful, giving thanks unto 
Him that has called you to His heavenly Kingdom. 

Ps. and Esdras. 

1. Live the joy-life of the Spirit, not the sorrow-life of 

the flesh; 

2. Never be down-hearted, but forever rejoice. 

3. Rejoice that you can rejoice, that you may rejoice. 

Rejoice day by day more abundantly. 

4. Life should increasingly become a luxury, and not a 

tale of woe to be endured. 

5. Human hope and faith should join in nature's grand 

harmony, and, if on minor key, make music in the 
heart. 

6. And the weeds of melancholy, and asceticism as well, 

should be given no soil nor moisture. 

1 H. Fletcher. 3 U. N. Gestefeld. 4 H. Wood. 5 Mary Baker 
G. Eddy. 6 H. Wood. 




340 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 6th. 

Let your face be bright and open, and be a treasure to 
the poor and needy. Baha’o’llah. 

Give, and it shall be given you. Luke 6:38. 

To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to 
him it is sin. Jas. 4:17. 

1. Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our 

Maker, neither does withholding enrich us. 

2. Verily, it is more blessed to give than to receive. 

3. It is not a favor to contribute, but a blessing to be 

allowed to give for a good purpose. 

4. Be ready, therefore, always to every good work; 

5. And when asked, give the little you have. 

6. Give to every one that asks you, and ask not back, 

for the Father wills that from His own blessing you 
should give to all, not calling anything your own. 

7. Therefore turn not away your face from any poor 

man, and then the face of God shall not be turned 
away from you. 

8. O you who are wealthy on earth! The poor among 

you are His trust; therefore guard His trust, and be 
not wholly occupied with your own ease. 

9. And you that are poor! Work that which is good, 

and of your labors, which God gives you, give to 
all that are in want freely, not questioning to whom 
you shall give, and to whom you shall not give; give 
to all; for to all God desires that there should be 
given of His own bounties. 

10. They then that receive shall render an account to God 
why they received it, and to what end. 

1 Mary Baker G. Eddy. 2 Acts. 3 Abdul Baha. 4 Tit . 5 Bud¬ 
dha. 6 The Teachings of the Apostles. 7 Tobit. 8 Ba¬ 
ha’o’llah. 9-10 St. Hermas. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


341 


December 7th. 

L In times of trouble, in the consideration of all diffi¬ 
cult questions, and in the endeavor to help a fel¬ 
low-man, there is just this one direct method, 
namely, to seek the Spirit, to dwell with it, cleave to 
it, abide' by it, awaiting its silent emphasis of the 
right, until the outer life shall respond to this 
central purpose within. 

2. There is guidance for each soul. 

3. It is only necessary to put one’s self in the right atti¬ 

tude, and then to be faithful to each specific 
prompting. 

4. For within and behind, around and through every 

human life, and every detail of each human expe¬ 
rience there is an all-sufficient Spirit, an ever-sustain¬ 
ing Love, an all-seeing Wisdom. Cease, therefore, 
to fear and be anxious. 

5. See how all is affected by what you think, what you 

are, and what you do. Ask what is wisest, then be 
true to that. 

6. Simply do the best you know, then trust. 

7. For he who seeks to live by the Spirit and who cares 

above all for that, will not be without guidance. 

8. Everyone, indeed, should become as a little child. He 

should open mind and heart, open the entire organ¬ 
ism to receive. 

9. He should transfer his attention, little by little, from 

self and from sensation to the Spirit, and if there 
is any discord, the ministrations of the Spirit will 
relieve it. 

10. For the Spirit is here. It is wisdom and goodness; 

it is love and beauty; why need we distrust? 

11. Only goodness can triumph, only love can reign. 


1-11 H. W. Dresser. 




342 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 8th. 

Be clothed with humility: For God resisteth the proud 
and giveth grace to the humble. 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand 
of God, that He may exalt you in due time. 

/ Pet. 5:15-6. 

1. Man is uplifted to the heaven of glory and power 

through meekness; again, through pride, is he de¬ 
graded to the lowest station. 

2. As children of God be, therefore, pliable and lowly, 

not arguing, not heeding self, ready for everything, 
and cleaving to nothing, ready to be high or low, 
praised or blamed, useful or useless, trusted or sus¬ 
pected. 

3. Do nothing through strife or vainglory; but in lowli¬ 

ness of mind let each esteem the other better than 
themselves. 

4. Look not every one on his own things, but every man 

also on the things of others. 

5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: 

who being in the form of God, thought it not rob¬ 
bery to be equal with God: 

6. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him 

the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
of men: 

7. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled 

himself, and became obedient unto death, even the 
death of the cross. 

8. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and 

given him a name which is above every name: 

9. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 

things in heaven, and things on earth, and things 
under the earth. 


1 Baha’o’llah. 2 Fenelon. 3-9 Phil . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 343 


December 9th. 

Be faithful in all things. I Tim. 3:11. 

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also 
in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also 
in much. Luke 16:10. 

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a 
crown of life. Rev. 2:10. 

Giving no offense in anything: but in all things approv¬ 
ing ourselves as the ministers of God, by pureness, hy 
knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy 
Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the 
power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the 
right hand and on the left: as deceivers, and yet true; as 
unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we 
live; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet mak¬ 
ing many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all 
things. II Cor. 6:3-10. 

1. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of 

faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil con¬ 
science, and our bodies washed with pure water. 

2. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without 

wavering; for He is faithful that promised. 

3. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love 

and to good works; 

4. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as 

the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: 

5. And so the much more, as ye see the day approaching. 


1-5 Heb . 




344 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 10th. 

Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. 

Luke 11:28. 

Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned 
and hast been assured of. II Tim. 3:14. 

Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; 
line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a 
little. Isa. 28:10. 

The word preached did not profit them, not being 
mixed with faith in them that heard it. Heb. 4:2. 

Take heed what ye hear: With what measure ye mete, 
it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall 
more be given. Mark 4:24. 

The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper 
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing 
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, 
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Heb. 4:12. 

Do not My words do good to him that walketh up¬ 
rightly? Micah. 2:7. 

Words are the physicians of a mind diseased. 

Aeschylus. 

The gift of the word of spirit exceeds all gifts. The 
sweetness of the word of spirit exceeds all sweetness; the 
delight in the word of spirit exceeds all delights. 

Buddha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


345 


December 11th. 

With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and 
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For 
the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not 
be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew 
and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all 
that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the 
name of the Lord shall be saved. Rom. 10:10-13. 

1. The blessings of salvation are made free to all . . .; 

and it is the immediate duty of all to accept them 
by a cordial, penitent and obedient faith. Nothing 
prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth 
but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejec¬ 
tion of the Gospel. 

2. Having given us the power to believe, God justly com¬ 

mands us to use it; and what a damnation does not 
the sinner deserve who refuses to accept pardon and 
holiness and heaven on terms so easy! 

3. It is the refusal to believe that God loves us which is 

the unbelief that imperils the soul. For faith is 
not a belief that we are saved, but that we are loved. 

4. Bqlieve, therefore, and accept, O sinner, the love and 

mercy of the Lord, whose grace is infinite and the 
sea of whose gift is boundless: By faith take the 
promises. Live upon them, not upon emotion. 
Remember, feeling is not faith. Faith grasps and 
clings to the promises. 

5. If you were to spend a month feeding on the precious 

promises of God, you would not be going about with 
your head hanging down, but you would lift it up 
with confidence, and proclaim the riches of His grace 
because you could not help it. 

1 Baptist Manual 2 Carvosso. 3 W. N. Kirk. 4 Anon and 
H. Mandeville. 5 D. L. Moody. 




346 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 12th. 

Ye are strangers and sojourners with me. Lev. 25:23. 

The time is short; it remaineth that both they that 
have wives be as though they had none; and they that 
weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as 
though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though 
they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not 
abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away. 

/ Cor. 7:29-31/ 

There remaineth a rest to the people of God. Heb. 4:9. 

They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as 
the stars for ever and ever. Dan. 12:3. 

Nothing is lost, and all our toil, study and self-dis¬ 
cipline have been storing the soul with material which, 
when freed from the fetters of earth, in that life of larger 
opportunities, will unfold to blessed use. J. F. Clarke. 

The spirit, now deprived of all tendency to evil, is yet 
conscious of his past, the opportunities he has missed, the 
joys he might have had and won, and the approval of 
God which might have been his. Cora Linn Daniels. 

See the universe as one, see it as living, see it as vibrant 
with the Divine passion of its Maker; see every bud and 
bird as an expression of a tenderness to which no detail is 
too small, as no system of suns is too vast for its solicitude, 
and see yourself in this world unlimited, undying and 
unafraid. B. King. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 347 


December 13th. 

Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established. 

II Chron. 20:21. 

Despise doubtfulmindedness and gain the mastery over 
it in everything, clothing yourself with faith which is 
strong and powerful. 

For faith promises all things, accomplishes all things. 

St. Hermas. 

How easy it is to tap the well—springs of Divine Power! 
They lie within your own heart, at your very door. You 
need nothing but faith to stretch out your hand and take 
this living water. Drink it not on rare occasions, but as 
your daily refreshment. Draw upon the water of life each 
day for your every need of soul and of mind and of body. 
You will accomplish this by faith, aided by imagination. 
The Divine fount of healing and of inspiration is con¬ 
stantly beside every human soul. M. B. Wallace. 

1. Faith, which is life eternal, is the sign of bounty and 

not the result of justice. 

2. The flame of the fire of love in this world of earth and 

water comes through the power of attraction and 
not by effort and striving. 

3. The loss (or lack) of faith and assurance is blame¬ 

worthy; 

4. For then the soul is overwhelmed by man’s desires and 

passions, which deprive him of these blessings and 
prevent him from feeling the power of attraction of 
the love of God. 


]-4 Abdul Baha. 




348 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 14th. 

It is good to be zealously affected always in a good 
thing. Gal. 4:18. 

1. Make not light of any matter; but speak in truthful¬ 

ness and sincerity. 

2. Defile not the tongue with cursing or execrating any 

one and guard thine eyes against that which is not 
worthy. 

3. Be not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, 

no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of 
hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, 
temperate. 

4. Study to prove thyself approved unto God, a work¬ 

man that needeth not to he ashamed. 

5. Be simple in heart and rich in spirit. 

6. Hate everything which is not pleasing to God. 

7. Love thy neighbor above thy life. 

8. Be humble and meek in the presence of the beloved 

of God; make thyself the servant of all, and serve 
all alike. 

9. To serve by looking after the sick is one of the great¬ 

est duties. 

10. To every soul who becomes sick, thou as a friend 

shouldst certainly offer the life of service in the 
utmost kindness. 

11. And whatever thou doest, do it heartily, as to the 

Lord, and not unto men. 

12. Knowing that of the Lord thou shalt receive the re¬ 

ward of the inheritance: For thou servest the Lord. 

13. He that doth wrong shall receive for the wrong which 

he hath done; and there is no respect of persons. 

1-2 Baha’o’llah. 3-4 Tit. 5-7 St. Barnabas. 8-10 Abdul Baha 
11-13 Col . 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


349 


December 15th. 

1. Ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto and 

shall be happy. 

2. For God created you in mercy. 

3. Had He not intended you to be happy, His benefi- 

cience would not have called you into existence. 

4. How dare you, then, to fly in the face of His majesty? 

5. Whilst you are most innocently happy you do Him 

most honor. 

6. And what is your despondency but murmuring 

against Him? 

7. “All joy, beauty and gladness, the sufficiency of all 

good things, are for you. 

8. Reach out”, then, “your hand to take them unto you”. 

9. Break off depressed feelings by bright, hopeful, res¬ 

olute optimism, which will quickly produce its cor¬ 
responding feelings. 

10. Strangle every doubt as you would a viper threaten¬ 

ing your life. 

11. Never talk, think or write of your poverty, or unfor¬ 

tunate condition. 

12. Cut out of your life all thought that limits, hampers, 

dwarfs and darkens it. 

13. These are ghosts of fear; the Creator never made them 

or intended them to haunt or torment you. He 
made us for happiness, for joy, for conquest over 
our environment. 

1 Deut . 2-6 Kothumi. 7-8 U. N. Gestefeld. 9 E. Towne. 10-13 
O. S. Marden. 




350 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 16th. 

The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord 
of Hosts. Hag. 2:8. 

God took care of the universe before you were born, and 
God can take care of the universe after you are dead. Let 
us be content to do our own work and let everything 
else go. 

I do the little I can do, 

And leave the rest to God. Anon. 

All I have seen, teaches ine to trust the Creator for all 
I have not seen. R. W. Emerson. 

From Goodness only good can emanate. Fear not; the 
end shall be full of sweetness. O. Khayyam. 

The natural evolution of the emancipated mind is 
dominant calm, varied by seasons of exaltation, but never 
of depression. It is a healthful succession of energy and 
rest, all blessed with loving appreciation, which finds 
expression in ever-present gratitude. H. Fletcher. 

1. Dear restless heart, be still; don’t fret and worry so: 
God has a thousand ways His love and help to show; 
Just trust, and trust and trust, until His will you know. 

2. Dear restless heart, be still; for peace is God’s own 

smile, 

His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile; 

Just love and love and love, and calmly wait a while. 

3. Dear restless heart, be brave; don’t moan and sor¬ 

row so; 

He has a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow; 

Just hope and hope and hope, until you braver grow. 


1-3 S. Linn. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


351 


December 17 th. 

When we see with God’s eyes on the world about us, 
we will pronounce all things good; we will know that 
from first to last all things have been working together 
for our perfect development; and that God’s law when 
fully understood is the law of love. C. B. Patterson. 

God is taking care of each child of His love, [that is, of 
all of us], whether the child knows it and admits it or not; 
but once positively admitting and accepting it, we can rest 
in the consciousness of it as securely as a baby bird nestles 
under its mother’s wings. K. W. Buck. 

1. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; 

2. And He knows them that trust in Him. 

3. He knows you and the trials of your heart; 

4. He knows what is in you, all your peculiar feelings 

and thoughts, your dispositions and likings, your 
strength and your weakness. 

5. He interests Himself in all your anxieties and your 

remembrances, in all the risings and fallings of 
your spirit. 

6. He compasses you round, and bears you in His arms. 

7. You do not love yourself better than He loves you. 

8. You cannot shrink from pain more than He dislikes 

your bearing it; 

9. And if He puts it on you, it is as you will put it on 

yourself, if you are wise, for a greater good after¬ 
wards. 

10. For He is a God full of compassion, and gracious, 
long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth. 

1-2 Nahum. 4-9 J. H. Newman. 10 Ps . 




352 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 18th. 

Never mistrust the faithful Friend who will never fail 
you, often as you fail Him. Fenelon. 

Rise into the blessed assurance that everywhere and for¬ 
ever you are enfolded, penetrated, guarded, guided, kept, 
by the power of the Father, who can never forsake you. 

W. E. Channing. 

Strive to see God in all things without exception, and 
acquiesce in His will with absolute submission. Do every¬ 
thing for Him, uniting yourself to Him by a mere upward 
glance, or by the overflowing of your heart towards him. 
Do not be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a 
calm spirit. Do not lose your inward peace for anything 
whatsoever, even if the whole world seems upset. Com¬ 
mend all to God, and then lie still and be at rest in Him. 
Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to 
cling simply to God, trusting in His eternal love for you; 
and if you find that you have wandered forth from this 
shelter, recall your heart quietly and simply. Maintain a 
holy simplicity of mind, and do not smother yourself with 
a host of cares, wishes or longings, under any pretext. 

St. Francis de Sales. 

1. Fear thou not; for I am with thee; 

2. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen 

thee; yea, I will help thee, saith the Lord. 

3. Be strong, therefore, and of good courage, fear not: 

4. For the Lord, thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; 

5. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 

6. Only trust in Him and rely upon Him, be attached to 

Him and cling to Him. 

1-2 Isa . 3-5 Deut . 6 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


353 


December 19 th. 

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the 
everlasting arms. Therefore take heed, and be quiet; fear 
not, neither be faint-hearted. Deut. and Isa. 

Rely upon God, for God is guardian enough. Koran. 
Throw yourself into His arms in spite of yourself. 

Fenelon. 

Rely upon Him, verily, God loves those who do rely. 

Koran. 

Trust in Him with all your heart. Prov. 

1. Trust in that good Father in heaven, whose love sent 

you into the world and gave you the priceless bless¬ 
ing of life. 

2. Trust Him, for He is your Father. Whatever else He 

is, He is that; He has bid you call Him that, and He 
will hear you. 

3. If you forget that He is your Father, you forget him, 

and worship a false God of your own invention. 

4. Trust in God is the only real worship of God. Our 

confidence is our religion. It is the sweetness of life. 

5. It is worth our while to have lived if it were only to 

have the delight of trusting in God. 

6. Many aim at perfection, and few attain it. 

7. In almost every case the reason of the failure is the 

want of confidence in God. 

8. We acquire confidence in God by exercising confi¬ 

dence. 

9. It produces itself, and multiplies itself, while it 

strengthens itself. 

1-3 C. Kingsley. 4-9 F. W. Faber. 





354 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 20th. 

1. Remember me, 0 Lord, with the favor that Thou 

hearest unto Thy people: O visit me with Thy sal¬ 
vation ; 

2. That I may see the good of Thy chosen, that I may 

rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may 
glory with Thine inheritance. 

3. For Thou, 0 Lord, art my God, my refuge and help; 

I shall not be confounded: 

4. I have set my face like a flint; I know that I shall 

not be ashamed. 

5. For, behold, Thou art mine helper; Thou art my sal¬ 

vation; I will trust and not be afraid: 

6. Lo, Thou art my God; I have waited for Thee, and 

Thou wilt save me: 

7. Thou art the Lord; I have waited for Thee, I will be 

glad and rejoice in Thy salvation. 

8. Thou art my refuge and strength, a very present help 

in trouble. Therefore will I not fear. 

9. Truly, my soul waiteth upon Thee; for Thou only 

art iny Rock and my salvation; 

10. Thou art my defense; I shall not greatly he moved. 

11. And although I should be afraid and troubled, yet in 

the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy com¬ 
forts and Thy presence delight my soul. 

12. For, lo, I am continually with Thee: Thou hast 

holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide 
me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to 
glory. 

13. Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is 

none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. 

14. My flesh and my heart faileth: But Thou art the 

strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 

1-2 Ps. 3-4 Isa. 5-7 Ps. and Isa. 8-14 Ps. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


355 


December 21st. 

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: Bind them about 
thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart. 

Prov. 3:3. 

The good, though only thought, has life and breath. 

Anon. 

Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the 
world will soften towards him, and be ready to help him; 
let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts and lo! 
Opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his 
strong resolves; let him encourage good thoughts, and no 
hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness and 
shame. James Allen. 

1. All [you] actually are is what [you] think. 

2. Indeed, “your thought is yourself and goes with you 

wherever you go”. 

3. Each thought has an invisible influence. It is a power. 

4. And “if your habitual thoughts are pure, ennobling, 

trustful, intellectual, free from low or mean inten¬ 
tions, selfish aims, false hopes, false theories, friv¬ 
olous, inane and silly devices and amusements; if 
courage and integrity, honor, charity, chastity, ten¬ 
derness, sympathy, righteousness occupy your mind, 
you send out from [you] a strong, steady, positive 
force for good, clearing the moral [and spiritual] 
atmosphere about you”. 

5. Those who make for righteousness in their inner 

lives—the lives not uttered at all, perhaps, to their 
neighbors—do more [than anything else] to make a 
community equable, contented, healthful, prosper¬ 
ous, cultivated, open-handed and honest. 

1-5 Cora Linn Daniels. 




356 THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 22nd. 

The human soul is on its journey from the law to love, 
from discipline to liberation, from the moral plane to the 
spiritual. R. Tagore. 

Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and con- 
tinueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a 
doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 

Jas. 1:25. 

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that 
are defiled, and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even 
their mind and conscience is defiled. Tit. 1:15. 

Enjoying good things is not evil, but becoming slaves to 
pleasure is. Mary Baker G. Eddy. 

1. Ye are like unto a bird which, with all joy and frag¬ 

rance soars with the utmost security in the cheerful 
air of the Praised One. 

2. Then in the hope of grains it inclines* toward the mud 

and water of the earth, and, with all eagerness, be¬ 
smears itself with dust and mire. 

3. Then when it attempts to reascend it finds itself un¬ 

able and a captive, for as much as wings besmeared 
with water and clay are not capable of flight. 

4. At that time that bird of the exalted heaven finds itself 

a dweller in the mortal earth. 

5. Now, 0 servants, do not besmear your wings with the 

mire of heedlessness and imagination and the earth 
of animosity and rancor, so that ye be deprived and 
prevented from soaring in the sacred heaven of 
knowledge. 


1-5 Baha’o’llah. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


357 


December 23d. 

Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good 
to them that hate you, and pray for them that spitefully 
use you and persecute you. Matt. 5:44. 

Be not overcome of evil, hut overcome evil with good. 

Rom. 12:21. 

Be not weary in well doing. II Thess. 3:13. 

So speak ye, and so do as they that shall be judged by 
the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without 
mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth 
against judgment. Jas. 2:12-13. 

The fruit of the human tree is the love of God; it is the 
love of humankind; it is to wish good for all the people of 
the earth; it is service of humanity; it is truthfulness and 
honesty; it is virtues and good morals; it is devotion to 
God; it is education of souls. Without these the human 
tree is only wood. Abdul Baha. 

Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, 
ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep: let 
your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to 
heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, 
and He shall lift you up. Jas. 4:8-10. 

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate 
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the 
one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and 
mammon. Matt. 6:24-26. 

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth 
more and more unto the perfect day. Prov. 4:18. 




358 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 24th. 

To do good and to communicate forget not: for with 
such sacrifices God is well pleased. Heb. 13:16. 

No deed of man is greater before God than helping the 
poor. Abdul Baha. 

Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we 
shall reap, if we faint not. And while we have the oppor¬ 
tunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them 
who are of the household of faith. Gal. 6:9-10. 

1. No life is really happy until it is helpful, is really suc¬ 

cessful until it is radiant with joy and gladness, the 
gladness of good cheer, of good will toward every¬ 
body, of the spirit of brotherhood toward all men. 

2. He who is stingy of his sympathy, of his helpfulness, 

of his praise and appreciation, pinches, starves and 
strangles his own nature. It is the generous giving 
of ourselves [and of that which is ours] that pro¬ 
duces the generous harvest. 

3. To give much is to have much. 

4. Charity giveth itself rich. Covetousness hoardeth itself 

poor. 

5. Yea, that which is given in charity is rich in returns; 

therefore charity is a true friend; although it scat¬ 
ters, it brings no remorse. 

6. The real treasure is that laid up through charity and 

pity, temperance and self-control; the treasure thus 
hid is secure, and passes not away. 

7. Though he leaves the fleeting riches of the world, this 

a man carries with him—a treasure that no wrong 
of others, and no thief can steal. 

1-2 O. S. Marden. 3 G. Kleiser. 4 0. S. Marden. 5-7 Buddha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD_359 

December 25th . 

The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared 
to all men; teaching us that, denying ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and 
godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed 
hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and 
our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that 
he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto 
himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works. 

Titus 2:11-14. 

1. God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten 

Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life. 

2. If God, then, he for us, who can be against us? And 

He that spared not His Son, but delivered him up 
for us all, how shall He not with him also freely 
give us all things? 

3. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? 

It is God that justifieth. Who is he that con¬ 
demned!? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is 
risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, 
who also maketh intercession for us. 

4. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall 

tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or 
nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these 
things we are more than conquerors through him that 
loved us. 

5. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor 

angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us 
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our 
Lord. 


1 St. John. 2-5 Rom . 






360 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 26th. 

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. 

Oh, how great is His goodness, which He hath laid up 
for them that fear Him. 

Which He hath wrought for them that trust in Him 
before the sons of men. Chron. and Ps. 

The Lord giveth quietness of heart, and great peace, 
and festive joy. He maketh us to think well of all cir¬ 
cumstances, and in all to praise Him. 

Thomas a Kempis. 

1. I will praise the Lord; for He is good; 

2. I will sing praises unto His name; for it is pleasant. 

3. I will glorify Him, in whose hand my breath is, and 

whose are all my ways. 

4. I will give thanks unto the God of heaven. 

5. For His mercy endureth forever. 

6. I will sing aloud unto God, my strength: 

7. And make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. 

8. My meditation of Him shall be sweet: 

9. I will be glad in the Lord. 

10. For He is my God, and I will praise Him; 

11. He is my God, I will exalt Him. 

12. 1 will bless the Lord: 

13. For He hath showed me His marvellous kindness; 

14. And I will declare what He hath done for my soul. 

15. Yea, at all times will I bless the Lord: 

16. His praise shall continually be in my mouth; 

17. While I live will I praise the Lord: 

18. And I will sing praises unto my God while I have 

any being. 

1-2 Ps. 3 Dan. 4-18 Ps 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


361 


December 27th. 

Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is 
renewed day by day; for our light affliction, which is but 
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things 
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for 
the things which are seen are temporal; but the things 
which are not seen are eternal. II Cor. 4:17-18. 

What will it be to us when we get there, “endowed with 
the glory of [our] inner powers, that for a few brief 
earthly years [we] suffered to bring those powers into 
condition, force them into action, and accomplish [our] 
work”? Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. All things, though almost unbearable they may seem 

to be, work together for our salvation and eternal 
welfare. 

2. The particular annoyance which befell us this morn¬ 

ing; the vexatious words which met our ear and 
grieved our spirit; the disappointment which was 
God’s appointment for to-day; the slight, but hinder¬ 
ing ailment; whatever this day seemeth not joyous, 
but grievous, is linked in the good pleasure of His 
goodness with a corresponding afterward of peace¬ 
able fruit, the very seed from which, if we only do 
not choke it, this shall spring and ripen. 

3. And if we could see beforehand what it is that our 

heavenly Father means us to be,—the soul-beauty 
and perfection and glory, the glorious and lovely 
spiritual body that this soul is to dwell in through 
all eternity,—if we could have a glimpse of this, we 
should not grudge all the trouble and pains He is 
taking with us now, to bring us up to that ideal, 
which is His thought of us. 

2 F. R. Havergal. 3 A. Keary. 




362 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 28th. 

Be full of joy to such an extent that in whatever meet¬ 
ing you enter, those present may be permeated with a 
spirit of heavenly blessedness. Abdul Baha. 

Gladness is the life of man. Ecclesiasticus. 

To be glad that you are inhabitants of this beautiful 
universe and have a right to enjoy all the glories of nature, 
and to think right, to stop worrying, to breathe joy is 
to have abundant life. 

There is no one thing that will do so much for the life, 
for health, for happiness, as the cultivation of the cheer¬ 
ful habit, the habit of flinging out one’s joy and gladness 
everywhere, radiating good cheer. 0. S. Marden. 

I do not know of any way so sure of making others 
happy as being so one’s self. Anon. 

Life can never become a burden to those who, in all the 
freshness and enthusiasm of healthy thought, awaken each 
morning to look out upon another day, eager to know what 
new mystery it holds. H. W. Dresser. 

1. As we normally require a psychic atmosphere of joy, 

harmony and love as much as we need a physical 
atmosphere of fresh air, let us think joyful thoughts, 
let us think loving thoughts; 

2. Let the elixir of good will course through our veins. 

3. We will then have found the best possible medicines. 

4. For happiness is a great healer to those who are ill. 

1 S. D. Kirkham. 2-3 James Allen. 4 Abdul Baha. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


363 


December 29th. 

We are strangers before Thee, and sojourners, as were 
all our fathers: Our days on the earth are as a shadow, 
and there is none abiding. I Chron. 29:15. 

We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. II Cor. 5:1. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us 
again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible, 
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in 
heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the 
last time. I Pet. 1:3-4. 

1. Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all gen¬ 

erations. 

2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever 

Thou hast formed the earth and the world, even 
from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. 

3. Thou turnest man to destruction, and sayest, Return 

ye children of men. 

4. For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yester¬ 

day when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 

5. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a 

sleep: In the morning they are like grass which 
groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth; in the 
evening it is cut down and withereth. 


1-5 Ps. 




364 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


December 30th. 

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from hence¬ 
forth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their 
labors; and their works do follow them. 

Rev. 14:18. 

There can never be full knowledge of what the Spirit 
life is. There can be approximate knowledge; enough 
to embue humanity with newer and higher aims, and dif¬ 
ferent and more righteous ambitions. 

When it is fully believed that one’s standing in Spirit 
life absolutely depends upon the righteousness of one’s 
character, and that a lack of righteousness is the lack of 
every possible advantage, men will be as anxious to accu¬ 
mulate goodness as now they are to accumulate wealth. 
. . . Goodness is wealth. Cora Linn Daniels. 

1. The first thrill of life after death may be a terrible 

agony of remorse. 

2. Then, for the first time, perhaps, comes to the soul a 

consciousness of what it is, and what it might have 
been. 

3. You will enter this life just what you make yourself. 

4. If you allow your spirit to be cramped, dwarfed and 

sin-stained, you will find yourself crippled, weak and 
impure, unfit for the companionship of the good, 
and unable to enjoy the spiritual life until you have 
atoned by long struggle. 

5. If you persistently resist temptation and hurtful 

shadows and keep your soul receptive for all puri¬ 
fying, inspiring influences, your fitness to receive 
them will increase, and you will enter there pre¬ 
pared for higher development and purer joys. 

1-3 J. F. Clarke. 




THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


365 


December 31st. 

What is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth 
for a little time, and then vanisheth away, 

Jas. 4:14. 

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of 
trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: 
He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. 

Job 14:1-2. 

Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when 
the time is. Mark 3:33. 

I know that the day will come when my sight of this 
earth shall be lost, and life will take its leave in silence, 
drawing the last curtain over my eyes. 

Yet stars will watch at night, and morning rise as be¬ 
fore, and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasure 
and pain. R. Tagore. 

Our whole life is given us with the object of going 
boldly on towards the heavenly home. 

The world slips away like a deceitful shadow, and 
eternity draws near; why delay to push forwards? While 
it is time, while your merciful Father lights up your 
path, make haste and seek His Kingdom. Fenelon. 

0 that they were wise, that they understood this, that 
they would consider their latter end. Deut. 33:29. 

Looking back the way we’ve come, 

What a sight, 0 Lord, we see! 

All the failures in ourselves, 

All the love and strength in Thee. 

Yet it seemed so dark before— 

Would that we had trusted more! Anon. 




366 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


PRAYER. 

1. Heavenly Father, Thou art my refuge day by day. 

2. To whom shall I turn but to Thee, the Loving, the 

Merciful, and the All-Powerful? 

3. Thou art ever-present, and Thou art always with me, 

Thy child. 

4. I thank Thee for Thy loving kindness, for life and 

strength, for light and guidance, and for all the 
riches of goodness of Thy mercy towards me. 

5. Forgive me, 0 Father, my ingratitude, my selfishness, 

my hourly transgressions in thought and deed. 

6. Cleanse me from all my sins; take away my old self, 

my sinful inclinations, my doubts and fears, and 
give me Thy Spirit, 0 Lord. 

7. Let me see Thy light and feel Thy love, that my heart 

may be filled with gladness, and that I may radiate 
the sunshine. 

8. Let me be entirely Thine, 0 Father; occupied in 

thinking of Thee, inflamed by the fire of Thy love 
and separated from all except Thee. 

9. And I pray Thee, Father, to make me kind, very 

kind; teach me the life of love. 

10. Look with tenderness upon those that are dear to me 

and fill their cup with happiness. 

11. Bless us all this day, everybody on earth and in 

heaven, and lead us all into the serene and 
heavenly ways of peace. 

12. My self, my life, my work, my will, my all I sur¬ 

render to Thee. 

13. I trust in Thee, my hope is in Thee, for Thou art 

Love and Thine is the power forever. Amen. 

7 Anon. 8 Abdul Baha. 9-10 Anon. 




LIST OF AUTHORS 


Abbott, Lyman, author of “The Great Companion,” etc., 90, 103,104, 
119, 128, 205, 227, 267, 350. 

Abdul Baha, Abbas, “Tablets,” etc., 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 17, 20, 
22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 45, 48, 49, 51, 52, 
53, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 67, 68, 70, 71, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 
87, 89, 94, 95, 97, 98, 102, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 114, 115, 
116, 117, 119, 121, 126, 129, 130, 135, 137, 138, 140, 141, 147, 149, 
150, 151, 152, 158, 159, 160, 161, 165, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174, 175, 
176, 179, 180, 181, 187, 188, 189, 192, 195, 199, 201, 202, 203, 208, 
209, 221, 224, 225, 228, 230, 231, 232, 236, 238, 240, 241, 245, 249, 
250, 251, 253, 256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 262, 266, 267, 271, 273, 274, 
280, 283, 284, 288, 292, 300, 301, 302, 303, 306, 310, 312, 315, 324, 
325, 328, 334, 337, 338, 340, 345, 347, 348, 352, 357, 358, 362, 366. 

Acts, of the Apostles, 20, 85, 124, 136, 137, 166, 167, 197, 215, 217, 231, 
264, 312, 338, 340. 

Addison, Joseph, 339. 

Aeschylus, 344. 

Albee, Mrs. Helen R., 55. 

Allen, James, author of “As a Man Thinketh,” Thomas Y. Crowell 
Company, New York, publishers, 35, 54, 59, 86, 97, 120, 139, 163, 
170, 191, 270, 274, 299, 308, 313, 328, 355, 362. 

Amiel, H. Frederic, 247. 

Amos, 25, 63, 235, 270, 286. 

Appel, J. H., 131. 

Apostles, The Teachings of the, 249, 340. 

Aristotle, 178. 

Arnold, Edwin, 210. 

Atkinson, W. W., 121. 

Augustine, St., 85, 184, 187, 198, 237. 

Aurelius, Marcus, 43, 50, 156. 207, 249, 299. 

Badgavat Gita, 4, 195. 

Baha’o’llah, “The Hidden Words,” “The Book of Ighan,’ etc., 3, 6, 
12, 35, 46, 47, 60, 61, 63, 65, 67, 82, 85, 91, 97, 108, 109, 110, 116, 

123, 127, 139, 147, 155, 167, 170, 180, 182, 185, 187, 190, 198, 215, 

217, 220, 227, 230, 231, 232, 234, 236, 259, 270, 282, 283, 285, 288, 

290, 292, 303, 316, 318, 324, 328, 329, 338, 340, 342, 348, 356. 

Baker, R. S., 206. 

Bain, J. L. M., 20, 39. 


367 


368 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


Balzac, Honore de, 223, 246. 

Baptist Manual, 345. 

Barnabas, St., 196, 348. 

Barnes, Walter, 248. 

Baxter, Richard, 86. 

Bayma, P., 131. 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 31, 93, 199, 299. 

Benson, A. Christopher, author of “Thy Rod and Thy Staff,” etc., 
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London, publishers, 29, 79, 
98, 159, 218, 223, 234, 238, 269, 272, 281, 297, 312. 

Bernard, St., 237. 

Binns, H., 243. 

Black, Hugh, author of “Happiness,” etc., Fleming H. Revell Com¬ 
pany, New York, publishers, 79, 159, 200, 293. 

Boehme, Jacob, 229. 

Boethius, A. M., 299. 

Bonar, Horace, 196. 

Boree, O. N., 122. 

Brady, W., 11. 

Brooks, Phillips, 28, 165, 174, 222. 

Browning, Robert, 19. 

Buck, K. W., 351. 

Buke, R. M., 81. 

Buddha, 6, 20, 31, 39, 64, 97, 98, 134, 180, 185, 194, 235, 240, 269, 287, 
300, 328, 340, 344, 358. 

Buenderlin, Johann, 237. 

Bushnell, Horace, 41, 313. 

Cady, E., 306. 

Carlyle, Thomas, 86. 

Catherine of Genoa, St., 103, 190, 270. 

Catherine of Siena, St., 82. 

Call, A. P., 314. 

Cameron, M., 71. 

Carter, F., 123. 

Carvasso, 345. 

Channing, W. E., 284. 

Chase, Thornton, 168. 

Cheevf.r, H. T., 290. 

Chevreuse, 89. 

Christian Science Journal, 211, 316. 

Chronicles, 1st and 2nd book of the, 19, 34, 53, 64, 70, 148, 193, 194, 
198, 216, 239, 286, 288, 331, 347, 360, 363. 




LIST OF AUTHORS 


369 


Chrysostom, St., 244. 

Clarke, James Freeman, 27, 62, 65, 163, 178, 208, 314, 326, 346, 364. 

Clement of Alexandria, 64, 97, 225, 289, 335. 

Cobbe, F. P., 262. 

Collossians, Epistle of St. Paul to the, 28, 61, 77, 80, 96, 231, 248, 
255, 330, 348. 

Collins, Mabel, 140, 325. 

Confucius, 67, 140, 297. 

Cooke, J., 65, 81, 254. 

Corinthians, the Epistles of St. Paul to the, 2, 37, 46, 58, 78, 84, 89, 
95, 111, 118, 130, 134, 147, 158, 174, 193, 196, 197, 206, 207, 227, 
229, 232, 239, 240, 241, 243, 247, 251, 254, 285, 295, 296, 300, 304, 
326, 343, 346, 361, 363. 

Craig, Adam, 224. 

Crane, A. M., 191. 

Cunningham, A., 322. 

Cural, 319. 

Daniel, 23, 146, 204, 292, 346, 360. 

Daniels, Cora Linn, author of “As it is to Be,” etc., 2, 6, 12, 21, 25, 
26, 27, 31, 38, 47, 56, 66, 71, 73, 78, 79, 86, 91, 93, 94, 101, 105, 107, 

112, 115, 124, 137, 140, 141, 146, 155, 163, 164, 173, 183, 190, 201, 

206, 217, 218, 228, 232, 245, 246, 247, 252, 254, 256, 262, 265, 267, 

268, 271, 275, 287, 294, 295, 297, 304, 321, 322, 326, 329, 335, 337, 

346, 355, 361, 364. 

Darling, Henry, 325. 

Denk, H., 110, 237. 

De Koven, A., 211. 

De Sales, St. Francis, 29, 63, 68, 72, 91, 93, 95, 103, 139, 166, 177, 
238, 269, 270, 273, 282, 291, 302, 325, 352. 

De Sarasa, 137, 293. 

Desatir, 334. 

Deuteronomy, 34, 130, 163, 179, 219, 235, 262, 270, 280, 286, 318, 319, 
330, 349, 352, 353, 365. 

De Voe, Walter, 149, 222. 

De Waters, Lilian, 191. 

Donaldson, F. E. B., 98. 

Dresser, Horatio W., author of “The Power of Silence,” “Living by 
the Spirit,” “Voices of Freedom,” “The Perfect Whole,” G. P. 
Putnam’s Sons, New York and London, publishers; “A Message 
to the Sick,” etc., 3, 5, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 24, 30, 42, 52, 57, 76, 
79, 83, 87, 91, 92, 107, 113, 116, 121, 132, 134, 136, 143, 149, 152, 
157, 158, 164, 167, 169, 173, 176, 186, 187, 193, 202, 205, 211, 212, 




370 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


227, 233, 234, 246, 250, 251, 254, 259, 261, 263, 272, 282, 284, 288, 

304, 308, 320, 321, 322, 323, 332, 337, 341, 362. 

Eastman, L. H., 308. 

Ecclesiastes, 51, 86, 94, 190, 207, 212, 299, 334. 

Ecclesiasticus, 133, 153, 164, 257, 269, 283, 296, 362. 

Eddy, Mrs. Mary Baker, G., the Discoverer and Founder of Chris¬ 
tian Science, author of “Science and Health With Key to the Scrip¬ 
tures,” “Miscellaneous Writings,” “Unity of Good,” “The Peo¬ 
ple’s Idea of God,” “Rudimental Divine Science,” etc., 3, 14, 16, 
18, 26, 32, 38, 41, 45, 49, 52, 60, 62, 72, 77, 81, 82, 86, 94, 104, 
106, 107, 109, 111, 115, 122, 134, 138, 141, 143, 151, 152, 156, 158, 

171, 179, 180, 184, 198, 204, 205, 210, 211, 219, 222, 223, 229, 231, 

235, 251, 252, 262, 265, 267, 268, 271, 272, 275, 276, 281, 290, 294, 

295, 296, 300, 304, 314, 318, 321, 326, 327, 332, 333, 337, 339, 340, 

356. 

Eldad, 65. 

Eliot, G., 120, 272. 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 3, 29, 51, 57, 135, 136, 215, 240, 279, 350. 

Enoch, 18. 

Ephesians, Epistle of St. Paul to the, 21, 24, 36, 50, 56, 100, 118, 122, 
140, 197, 215, 229, 231, 298, 330. 

Epictetus, 81, 122, 190, 249, 298, 322. 

Esdras, 15, 64, 85, 294, 339. 

Eucken, R. C., 167, 290. 

Euwar, 82. 

Evans, W. F., 283. 

Exodus, 34, 49, 88, 203, 222, 307, 311. 

Ezekiel, 108, 141, 154, 187, 204, 305, 306. 

Ezra, 194. 

Faber, F. W., 319, 339, 353. 

Faizi, 171. 

Fenelon, 5. 9. 11, 12, 13, 20, 23, 25, 36, 44, 50, 52, 53, 62, 69, 72, 82, 
85, 89, 102, 104, 112, 116, 122, 125, 129, 143, 158, 160, 165, 166, 
169, 172, 174, 175, 183, 184, 187, 189, 195, 201, 204, 221, 230, 234, 

239, 241, 243, 244, 249, 264, 269, 275, 277, 280, 283, 285, 289, 291, 

294, 303, 312, 316, 323, 333, 334, 342, 352, 353, 365. 

Fletcher, Horace, author of “ Menticulture,” etc., 163, 239, 316, 339, 

350. 

Franck, J., 116, 296. 

Fuller, R., 38, 102. 




LIST OF AUTHORS 


371 


Galatians, Epistle of St. Paul to the, 10, 27, 80, 111, 118, 161, 196, 
251, 348, 358. 

Geikie, C., 280. 

Genesis, 34, 68, 118. 

Gestefeld, Urusula Newell, author of “How to Control Circum¬ 
stances,” 39, 234, 339, 349. 

Giles of Assisi, 28, 114, 122, 158, 171, 184, 195. 

Goulburn, E. M., 73, 76, 145, 314. 

Greenwood, Samuel, 85, 242. 

Gross, W. F., 221. 

Guyon, Mme., 60, 133, 136, 142, 248, 282. 

Habakkuk, 99, 108, 249. 

Haddock, F. C., 39. 

Hafiz, 15. 

Haggai, 297, 350. 

Hall, John, 61, 235, 269. 

Hallock, M., 59. 

Hamilton, James, 30, 125, 216, 264. 

Havergal, Francis Ridley, 58, 361. 

Hawthorne, N., 171. 

Hebrews, Epistle to the, 15, 32, 50, 80, 100, 114, 148, 161, 198, 203, 
233, 243, 252, 265, 314, 343, 344, 346, 347. 

Hepworth, G. H., 173. 

Herbert, L., 131. 

Hermas, St., 64, 69, 125, 133, 233, 235, 288, 307, 340, 347. 

Hilty, Karl, 89, 233, 253, 275. 

Hinton, James, 199, 269. 

Hosea, 6, 18, 34, 108, 166, 214, 216, 222, 249, 266. 

Huckel, Oliver, author of “Mental Medicine,” etc., Thomas Y. 
Crowell Company, New York, publishers, 13, 25, 165, 193, 274, 
295, 299, 333. 

Hugo, Victor, 150. 

Huntington, F. D., 76. 

Ignatius, St., 64, 209. 

Isaiah, 4, 15, 17, 18, 22, 23, 45, 49, 55, 62, 64, 78, 84, 90, 96, 99, 103, 
108, 112, 116, 128, 135, 153, 155, 158, 164, 182, 187, 194, 203, 207, 
210, 224, 226, 232, 237, 244, 253, 254, 261, 266, 268, 276, 287, 292, 
294, 301, 305, 315, 316, 338, 344, 352. 

James, 11, 32, 95, 112, 120, 126, 135, 188, 195, 197, 199 t 215, 240, 241, 
267, 285, 302, 330, 340, 356, 357, 365. 

James, W., 94, 225. 

Jenkins, H. C., 131. 




372 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


Jeremiah, 34, 49, 52, 65, 66, 77, 83, 87, 104, 133, 135, 161, 164, 173, 
193, 197, 206, 207, 214, 224, 241, 261, 263, 264, 285, 286, 292, 293, 
305, 306, 322, 326. 

Jerome, St., 253. 

Jesus, 45, 132, 247, 308. 

Job, 32, 34, 107, 152, 164, 178, 233, 303, 365. 

Joel, 13, 104, 284, 301. 

Jonah, 216, 323. 

Johnson, H., 314. 

John, Epistles of St., 10, 36, 81, 92, 114, 141, 167, 168, 170, 175, 184, 
196, 200, 209, 211, 224, 229, 242, 271, 286. 

John, the Gospel according to St., 2, 14, 21, 35, 37, 40, 49, 56, 60, 61, 
65, 71, 84, 90, 112, 126, 149, 152, 154, 160, 170, 188, 197, 200, 228. 
252, 282, 288, 291, 296, 301, 321, 333, 336, 359. 

Johonnot, James, 95. 

Jones, Rufus M., 216. 

Joshua, 18, 133, 270. 

Joubert, Joseph, 87. 

Jude, Epistle of St., 288. 

Judges, 139. 

Julian of Norwich, St., 22, 89, 90, 98, 121, 146, 164, 222, 259, 312. 

Kabir, Songs of, 139, 261. 

Kali, 235. 

Keary, A., 361. 

Keble, John, 308, 327. 

Keller, Helen, 315. 

Kelty, M. A., 265. 

Kempis, Thomas a, 3, 5, 30, 34, 35, 44, 102, 120, 131, 136, 142, 143, 
162, 169, 176, 177, 211, 223, 228, 230, 241, 250, 270, 303, 313, 316, 
331, 338, 360. 

Khaji Abd’allah, 142. 

Khayyam, Omar, 93, 190, 350. 

King, Basil, author of “The Abolishing of Death,” Cosmopolitan Book 
Corporation, New York, publishers, 55, 71, 338, 346. 

Kings, 1st and 2nd book of, 148, 330. 

Kingsley, Charles, 189, 250, 353. 

Kirk, W. N., 345. 

Kirkham, Stanton Dayis, author of “The Philosophy of Self-Help,” 
“Resources,” G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London, pub¬ 
lishers, 133, 134, 156, 199, 296, 316, 321, 362. 

Kleiser, Grenville, author of “Inspiration and Ideals,” etc., Funk 
and Wagnalls Company, New York, publishers, 51, 59, 192, 315, 
358. 




LIST OF AUTHORS 


373 


Koran, 28, 33, 34, 74, 116, 119, 125, 135, 162, 164, 165, 179, 195, 214, 
219, 223, 225, 235, 243, 263, 268, 277, 283, 324, 334, 353. 
Kothumi, 159, 162, 349. 

Kratzer, Rev. G. A., author of “Dominion Within,” 103, 193, 299. 
Lalita Vistara, 300. 

Lamentations, 32, 61, 203, 206, 298, 307. 

Lammai, 251. 

Law, William, 41, 101, 157, 220, 232., 

Linn, S., 350. 

Lawrence, Br., 165, 175. 

Leviticus, 47, 298, 300, 319, 346. 

Lincoln, A., 185, 310. 

Longfellow, H. W., 7, 275. 

Lotze, R. H., 271. 

Lubbock, J., 13, 29. 

Luke, the Gospel according to St., 35, 64, 67, 105, 119, 126, 178, 198, 
241, 286, 340, 343, 344. 

Master Mind, 29, 317, 325. 

Magazine of Mysteries, 149, 156, 159, 266. 

Maclaren, Alexander, 129. 

Macdonald, George, 57, 275, 308. 

Maha-bharata, 88. 

Malachi, 95, 104, 137. 

Mandeville, Henry, 345. 

Manning, H. E., 30, 32. 

McComb, Samuel, 149. 

Maeterlinck, M., 159. 

Marden, Orison Swett, author of “Every Man a King,” etc., Thomas’ 
Y. Crowell Company, New York, publishers, 13, 41, 89, 134, 139, 
144, 151, 156, 157, 192, 199, 208, 242, 248, 250, 254, 277, 279, 299, 
309, 317, 323, 349, 358, 362. 

Mark, the Gospel according to St., 37, 77, 94, 126, 130, 203, 259, 264, 
293, 344, 365. 

Matthew, the Gospel according to St., 16, 18, 21, 26, 43, 45, 49, 50, 70, 
77, 78, 105, 117, 125, 135, 143, 144, 158, 161, 188, 189, 191, 194, 
203, 225, 230, 251, 262, 265, 283, 290, 300, 301, 302, 313, 330, 357. 
Micah, 34, 72, 204, 325, 344. 

Michael Angelo, 58. 

Milinda, 240. 

Militz, Annie Rix, author of “Primary Lessons in Christian Living 
and Healing,” 17, 265, 317. 

Miller, H., 362. 




374 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


Mohammed, 45, 168. 

Molinos, Miguel, 32, 127. 

Montaigne, M., 299. 

Moody, Dwight Lyman, 80, 239, 325, 345. 

Mountford, William, 158. 

Mulford, Prentice, author of “Your Forces and How to Use Them,” 
36, 62, 156, 272. 

Nahum, 351. 

Nall, Robert, 271. 

Nautilus, 299, 339. 

Nehemiah, 5, 99, 258. 

Newcomb, Charles Benjamin, author of “All’s Right With the 
World,” “Discovery of a Lost Trail,” Lothrop, Lee and Shepard 
Company, Boston, publishers, 5, 19, 129, 131, 139, 152, 213, 264, 
272, 304, 314, 317, 321. 

Newman, J. H., 113, 177, 213, 214, 351. 

Newton, K. H., 322. 

Numbers, 249, 335. 

Nyssa, St. Gregory of, 278. 

Owen, J. N., 297. 

Owen, A. V., 233. 

Paracelsus, 89. 

Pascal, Blaise, 46, 261. 

Patterson, Charles Brody, author of “Dominion and Power,” 
“Living Waters,” “The Will to Be Well,” Fimk and Wagnalls 
Company, New York, publishers, 38, 60, 80, 94,120, 121, 174, 243, 
251, 260, 278, 317, 351. 

Penn, William, 3, 200, 240, 319. 

Pennington, A., 30. 

Peter, Epistles of St., 21, 84, 138, 153, 178, 179, 188, 207, 220, 229, 
241, 260, 327, 334, 342, 363. 

Philemon, 243. 

Philippians, the Epistle of St. Paul to the, 54, 96, 118, 127, 148, 150, 
179, 191, 212, 231, 327, 342. 

Pliny, 235. 

Plotinus, 141, 280. 

Potter, H., 16. 

Proverbs, 20, 52, 78, 103, 112, 120, 129, 131, 142, 151, 158, 191, 192, 
194, 203, 204, 210, 240, 249, 279, 287, 303, 309, 317, 320, 322, 324, 
353, 355, 257. 

Psalms, 1 , 8, 9, 11, 19, 22, 23, 29, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 
49, 50, 52, 53, 57, 59, 65, 68, 69, 71, 74, 75, 79, 83, 86, 91, 92, 99, 




LIST OF AUTHORS 


375 


105, 108, 109, 112, 119, 125, 127, 131, 132, 133, 134, 138, 143, 147, 

149, 153, 157, 162, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 177, 185, 188, 193, 195, 

206, 212, 213, 216, 219, 222, 225, 232, 235, 252, 258, 259, 264, 265, 

266, 267, 273, 275, 277, 278, 286, 291, 294, 300, 303, 306, 307, 311, 

315, 316, 320, 328, 331, 332, 334, 336, 337, 339, 341, 351, 354, 360, 

363. 

Ptah-hotep, 39. 

Purana, 18, 235. 

Pusey, E. Bouverie, 53, 82, 201, 213, 233. 

Pythagoras, 88. 

Ramsay, C. L., 145. 

Revelation of St. John, 2, 27, 31, 37, 84, 105, 135, 189, 219, 226, 229, 
237, 256, 259, 297, 311, 329, 331, 334, 343, 364. 

Robertson, F. W., 151, 234, 313, 319. 

Rodriguez, Alphonsus, 18, 69, 205. 

Romans, Epistle of St. Paul to the, 41, 48, 70, 77, 78, 111, 112, 118, 120, 
128, 136, 141, 148, 154, 182, 187, 194, 196, 243, 251, 253, 287, 302, 
311, 345, 357, 359. 

Ruskin, John, 33, 86, 134, 182, 310. 

Rutherford, Samuel, 149. 

Ruysbroeck, John, 46, 82, 110, 202, 236, 278, 289. 

Sadi, 11, 171. 

Sager, Daniel Showers, author of “The Art of Living in Good 
Health,” F. A. Stokes Company, New York, publishers, 13. 

Samuel, 16, 19, 222, 292, 307, 318. 

Saunders, F., 309. 

Savonarola, 122. 

Scupoli, L., 144, 202. 

Seneca, 320. 

Seward, T. F., 92, 169, 249. 

Shakespeare, 139, 326. 

Shaqiq, 129, 277. 

Snowden, J. H., 127. 

Socrates, 47, 62, 196. 

Spinney, W. A., 248, 299. 

Spinoza, 175. 

Spurgeon, C. H., 139, 312. 

Spring, Gardiner, 22. 

Stanley, Dean, 106. 




376 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


Stead, W. T., author of “Letters from Julia,” etc., 10, 20, 101, 129, 
130, 140, 147, 164, 179, 200, 201, 209, 212, 220, 221, 260, 271, 329. 
332. 

Stevenson, R. L., 29, 317. 

Stoddard, R., 140. 

Stowe, H., 126, 306. 

Street, J. C., 121. 

Sufi, 103. 

Swedenborg, E., 335. 

Tagore, Rabindranath, author of “Gitanjali,” the Macmillan Com¬ 
pany, New York, publishers, 31, 46, 53, 60, 82, 87, 101, 102, 110, 
120, 130, 131, 139, 142, 175, 178, 182, 214, 217, 224, 237, 263, 284, 
290, 298, 332, 337, 356, 365. 

Talmud, 319. 

Tapper, Thomas, 111. 

Tauler, J., 132, 178, 184, 187, 217, 224, 242, 244, 264, 285, 305, 320, 
335. 

Taylor, J., 23, 24. 

Tennyson, A., 237. 

Tertullian, 237. 

Thayer, W., 75. 

Theosophical Messenger, 29. 

Theologia Germanica, 175, 182, 262, 282, 296. 

Theosophical World, 39. 

Tersteegen, G., 160. 

Thessalonians, Epistles of St. Paul to the, 34, 82, 97, 109, 164, 178, 
197, 198, 205, 225, 255, 263, 334, 357. 

Thomson, J., 81. 

Timothy, Epistles of St. Paul to, 10, 67, 110, 115, 116, 124, 126, 141, 
172, 180, 194, 207, 235, 259, 267, 273, 288, 307, 310, 324, 325, 336, 
343, 344. 

Titus, Epistle of St. Paul to, 100, 230, 340, 348, 356, 359. 

Tobit, 331, 340. 

Tolstoy, 140. 

Towne, Elizabeth, author of “Lessons in Living,” “Practical Meth¬ 
ods for Self-Development,” E. Towne, Holyoke, Mass., publisher, 
26, 53, 54, 70, 93, 101, 159, 176, 192, 193, 239, 240, 275, 290, 317, 
349. 

Traherne, Thomas, 97. 

Trine, R. W., 13, 209, 239. 

Upanishads, 182, 194, 237, 296. 

Upham, F. W., 272. 





LIST OF AUTHORS 


377 


Van Der Burgh, F., 246. 

Vedas, 190. 

Vincent, J. H., 30. 

Wallace, Mrs. M. B., author of “The Thinning of the Veil,” Dodd, 
Mead and Company, New York, publishers, 16, 23, 39, 71, 76, 106, 

202, 208, 257, 268, 274, 313, 316, 338, 347. 

Warner, F. L., 163, 277. 

Warren, H. W., 281. 

Welch, W, J., 332. 

Wesley, John, 239, 325. 

Whiting, Lilian, author of “The World Beautiful,” “The Life Radi¬ 
ant,” “The Outlook Beautiful,” “The Spiritual Significance,” 
Little, Brown and Company, Boston, publishers, 59, 70, 151, 159, 
208, 227, 234, 272, 279, 333. 

Whittier, J. G., 83, 93, 281. 

Wickliffe, 171. 

WlLBERFORCE, W., 250. 

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 41. 

Wilder, Elizabeth, author of “Self-Help and Self-Cure,” Small May¬ 
nard and Company, Boston, publishers, 284. 

Wisdom of Solomon, 127, 144, 147, 184, 196. 

Wood, Henry, author of “Ideal Suggestion, Through Mental Photog¬ 
raphy,” “The New Thought Simplified,” etc., Lothrop, Lee and 
Shepard Company, Boston, publishers, 5, 16, 19, 26, 107, 115, 121, 

203, 288, 313, 339. 

Zechariah, 65, 125, 185, 196, 202, 229, 234, 266, 294. 

Zend a vesta, 115, 174. 

Zephaniah, 61, 116, 223. 

ZOROASTRIAN, 215. 









INDEX 


Affliction, 14, 32, 52, 72, 112, 152, 
172, 212, 232, 252, 272, 302, 
337, 341, 361. 

Charity, 180, 240, 358. 

Cheerfulness, 29, 39, 51, 69, 139, 
244, 248, 269, 279, 299, 339, 
362. 

Christ, 84, 100, 124, 172. 229, 359. 

Confidence, 53, 76, 113, 166, 177, 
203, 233, 254, 265. 

Contentment, 324. 

Courage, 95, 114, 143. 

Creed, 6, 62, 215. 

Death, 15, 56, 71, 105, 115, 150, 
190, 256, 268, 275, 297, 329, 
365. 

Eternal life, 27, 56, 57, 71, 105, 
121, 135, 150, 161, 190, 226 
231, 256, 268, 297, 304, 329, 
335, 346, 361, 363, 364. 

Faith, 13, 22, 30, 35, 53, 83, 89, 
93, 124, 136, 149, 153, 203, 223, 
233, 243, 273, 293, 313, 320, 
333, 345, 347. 

Faithfulness, 3, 7, 94, 194, 245, 
250, 314, 343. 

Fatherhood of God, 47, 64, 74, 97, 
117, 147, 155, 167, 187, 217, 
237, 266, 276, 296, 336. 

Fear, 13, 19, 33, 35, 53, 66, 75, 
83, 93, 103, 113, 143, 153, 157, 
163, 169, 173, 183, 193, 210, 
213, 223, 233, 239, 276, 277, 
283, 293, 316, 323, 352. 


Forgiveness of sins, 1, 5, 22, 64, 
68, 90, 104, 119, 125, 128, 144, 
164, 204, 216, 242, 264, 285, 
305, 312, 325. 

Gladness, 9, 19, 29, 39, 59, 69, 
79, 99, 139, 159, 199, 208, 238, 
248, 279, 299, 315, 339, 349, 
362. 

God, 17, 110, 202, 219, 311, 320. 

God’s guidance, 18, 30, 35, 54, 56, 
116, 132, 136, 168, 186, 234, 
293, 308, 341, 365. 

God’s help, 4, 18, 34, 49, 74, 75, 
153, 189, 263, 285, 354. 

God’s love, 11, 22, 41, 81, 101, 
127, 171, 201, 222, 224, 234, 
261, 281, 325, 332, 351, 359. 

God’s power, 34, 219, 311. 

God’s presence, 74, 87, 145, 166, 
174, 193, 212, 250, 276, 320. 

Goodness of God, 11, 22, 164, 222, 
234, 254, 306, 351, 360. 

Growth, 122, 186, 205. 

Happiness, 9, 29, 39, 51, 59, 69, 
79, 98, 99, 129, 131, 139, 149, 
156, 157, 159, 182, 192, 193, 
199, 208, 218, 238, 248, 257, 
269, 279, 299, 309, 317, 338, 
339, 349, 362. 

Hope, 30, 103, 113, 119, 121, 149, 
153, 155, 177, 183, 254, 256. 

Humility, 37, 46, 62, 158, 185, 
241, 292, 342. 

Joy, 9, 19, 54, 69, 79, 99, 129, 131, 
139, 149, 159, 177, 179, 182, 


379 




380 


THOUGHTS THAT BUILD 


190, 193, 199, 202, 208, 218, 
238, 248, 256, 269, 299, 309, 
329, 338, 339, 349. 

Judgment, 55, 206, 230, 251. 

Love, brotherly, 6, 8, 10, 20, 26, 
28, 40, 60, 70, 80, 97, 120, 130, 
140, 151, 170, 180, 185, 197, 

200, 209, 220, 221, 230, 240. 

260, 289, 300, 319, 328, 340, 

348, 357, 358. 

Love to God, 12, 58, 82, 102, 116, 
120, 142, 173, 175, 202, 236, 

270, 280, 289, 315. 

Kindness, 8, 50, 130, 151, 280, 
319. 

Knowledge, 62, 122, 265. 

Man’s relation to God, 17, 21, 
47, 57, 85, 92, 110, 117, 137, 
147, 167, 187, 196, 197, 217, 

227, 237, 247, 254, 296. 

Meditation, 63, 66, 126, 134, 228, 
291, 338. 

Obedience, 42, 116, 136, 262, 273, 
290, 310, 327. 

Opportunity, 3, 314. 

Peace, 23, 49, 73, 144, 160, 177, 
193. 

Perfection, 20, 21, 48, 58, 68, 91, 
98, 108, 118, 138, 148, 168, 178, 
188, 198, 205/215, 235, 

255, 278, 298, 380. 

Praise, 1, 19, 149, 162, 195, 258, 
331, 360. 

Prayer, 25, 28, 44, 45, 63, 65, 77, 

123, 142, 165, 166, 174, 178, 

181, 195, 214, 228, 239, 267, 

295, 301, 336, 366. 


Pride, 46, 154, 241, 292/342. 
Progress, 122, 205, 284, 318, 326. 
Punishment, 27, 32, 72, 135, 181, 
194, 204, 206, 251, 287, 315, 
317, 324. 


Repentance, 64, 104, 184, 204, 
264, 285, 297, 305. 


Sadness, 69, 92, 129, 139, 159, 
269, 317, 329. 

Sanctification, 8, 20, 31, 38, 48, 
50, 58, 61, 78, 88, 96, 98, 100, 
108, 109, 111, 114, 118, 138, 

148, 158, 161, 168, 178, 188, 

198, 225, 231, 235, 255, 270, 

282, 288, 290, 298, 308, 314, 

318, 330, 348, 357, 358. 

Silence, 75, 145, 228, 263. 

Sin, 38, 67, 118, 146, 184. 

Sorrow, 32, 52, 112, 152, 272, 369. 

Spirit, 115, 154, 211, 271, 334. 

Spirituality, 31, 36, 61, 87, 88, 
107, 111, 115, 138, 141, 155, 

158, 161, 211, 231, 250, 255, 

259, 271, 274, 294, 296, 321, 

356. 

Suffering, 14, 32, 112, 132, 152, 
172, 212, 232, 252, 272, 289, 

302, 337. 


Thanksgiving, 1, 162, 258, 331, 
360. 

Thought, 16, 46, 86, 93, 106, 134, 
155, 156, 176, 191, 200, 246, 
274, 278, 322, 355. 

Time, 2, 3, 15, 16, 207, 314. 
Trouble, 13, 52, 72, 113, 178, 214, 
341. 

Trust, 4, 13, 18, 23, 30, 33, 34, 35,' 
41, 43, 44, 49, 53, 55, 66, 72, 






INDEX 


381 


73, 75, 76, 83, 95, 103, 113, 119, 


123, 125, 133, 
157, 163, 166, 
181, 183, 193, 
213, 224, 233, 
250, 259, 261, 
279, 281, 283, 


136, 143, 153, 
169, 173, 177, 
203, 210, 212, 
239, 244, 249, 
266, 273, 277, 
293, 294, 303, 


307, 306, 323, 333, 341, 350, 
353, 354, 362, 365. 


Word of God, 126, 265, 344. 
Worry, 33, 43, 49, 53, 93, 103, 
163, 173, 186, 213, 224, 239, 
277. 




















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